


Decay

by JustBeStill



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Blood, Cannibalism, Controlling, Death, Dib tries to avoid being eaten by Zim, Diseases, Fighting, I’m so proud of this story, School, The first chapter took me a day and a half to write, Victims, Zim has become partially Zombified, curing, desires, eating people, rotting bodies
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-03
Updated: 2018-12-19
Packaged: 2019-01-29 02:08:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 26,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12620760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustBeStill/pseuds/JustBeStill
Summary: Something is wrong with Zim. The Irken has developed a taste for human flesh, and has been killing and eating people all over town. And Dib is next. (Inspired by the story ‘IB’)





	1. Hiding

Dib was currently running for his life. Behind him, he could hear the soft clicking of metal hitting concrete, his pursuer shrouded in the blackness of the night. Dib did not dare look behind him, for he knew that his enemy was swiftly catching up to him, and would not be long before he was at the mercy of those very sharp and deadly… appendages, whatever they were. They seemed to be an extra set of robotic legs. PAK legs, they were apparently called, according to Dib’s research.

Dib ran around a corner, stopping to catch his breath. He heard the clacking of boots against the ground, the sound of them echoing through the narrow alleyway that Dib was hiding in. “Diiib…” the voice rang out, “come out, will you? I only want to rip open your stomach and feast upon your insides!” Then he giggled, a very high-pitched sound that hurt Dib’s ears. 

The human glanced around the corner, toward the source of the giggling. All he could see was the teeth and eyes of his enemy, reflected by the pale moonlight. Zim walked closer, softly giggling the whole time. Blood dripped from his mouth, and his uniform was covered in the stuff. The blood of his victims.  
Zim had been attacking and killing everyone he saw, ripping into their bodies with his teeth and PAK legs.

Dib had no idea what could have possibly turned his alien into this… thing. This was not Zim. This was something else. Something that was unlike anything he had ever seen. The human had witnessed Zim attack at least two people that night, growling like an animal while launching himself at his victims and tearing into their throats and stomachs, while muttering incoherently and stumbling around like a drunk person afterwards. 

The young paranormal investigator had been attempting to remain hidden from the alien since then, but had now been spotted and pursued by his enemy. Those dull, lifeless eyes focused in on his position, and Dib quickly backed deeper into the shadows, hoping and praying that Zim had not seen him. Apparently, he had.

Those PAK legs came to life once more, and within three seconds Dib found himself cornered by Zim. Dib stared up at the Irken, trying not to let his fear show. Zim stared back at him, a wide grin plastered to his face. Blood dripped from his mouth, landing on Dib’s shirt. The collar of the child’s shirt was swiftly grasped in small hands, as the human was effortlessly lifted to eye level with the alien. Zim smiled wider, his breath smelling of human blood and death. “Found… you…” he gurgled.

Dib struggled in his foe’s grasp, but it was of no use, for this action only made the grip around his collar move to his throat. Zim did not tighten his hold on the human, but kept his hand around Dib’s throat. His breathing was loud and heavy, and it sounded as though it was difficult for him to do so, as he was wheezing slightly. 

“Let me go, Zim!” Dib demanded desperately. Zim’s only response was to tighten his grip on his prey’s throat. Harder and harder the alien squeezed, slowly cutting off Dib’s oxygen flow. The alien started laughing quietly as Dib began clawing feebly at Zim’s hands. He began seeing stars as his vision became tinged with blackness. It was at this moment that Dib was well and truly afraid of the Invader. 

Zim began to open his mouth, preparing to begin feasting on his meal. He leaned in close, but just before he could sink his teeth into the soft flesh of his victim, Dib spat in the alien’s face. Zim recoiled, growling and dropping the human, who immediately bolted in the opposite direction, wanting to put as much distance between himself and his would-be murderer. Being cannibalized by an insane Irken was definitely not on Dib’s schedule for the day. Or any day, as a matter of fact. He could hear the alien scream out in frustration and anger at seeing his prey evade him so easily. The former Invader began to destroy anything within his general vicinity, creating quite a racket. Lights began to be turned on inside houses nearby, and one person even came outside and approached Zim, demanding to know the cause of the commotion.

Approaching Zim in his enraged and severely mentally unstable state proved to be a fatal mistake, and it was also the last thing that the grown human ever did. Zim immediately stopped breaking things, slowly turning to face the source of this new voice. To Zim, this person was nothing more than his next meal, a fresh supply of food. And he was hungry.

Dib remained standing some distance away from them, and could do nothing but watch helplessly as his enemy released an ear-splitting screech and attacked the unknowing victim, deploying his PAK legs and gruesomely impaling him through his heart. Blood sprayed the walls of the houses between the alleyway, and Zim immediately began to feed, not even waiting for the body to hit the ground. 

Dib had backed himself into a dead-end, and had no choice but to watch as Zim tore into the innocent bystander, shoving entrails and bits of internal organs into his mouth like he had never eaten anything in his life before now, hardly even taking time to swallow them before shoveling in more handfuls to fill his mouth again. 

Dib was feeling queasy watching this display of brutality. He felt his stomach lurch, and he tried to keep from puking all over the place. He failed to keep it in, however, and bile began spewing from his mouth, hitting the pavement at his feet, some of it getting on his shoes. Dib cursed quietly, holding his breath as Zim momentarily halted his consumption of his latest catch to glance up, looking around himself cautiously, letting out a low snarl, his wig and contacts were askew, speckled with blood, much like his clothing. It was truly a horrifying sight.

Zim stood up on very unsteady legs, stumbling around for a few seconds before regaining his balance. He began investigating his surroundings carefully, his senses now on high alert. Dib tried to press himself farther into the dark section of the alley, but he quickly discovered that he had already reached the end of it, his back against the concrete wall. He had nowhere to hide now. If Zim found him, it was all over. He would just be another victim. He couldn’t let that happen. 

Zim was getting closer to his hiding place. Though he tried to be quiet, Dib could still hear his footfalls, and he could smell him. It was the stench of decay, and it was very strong, almost overwhelming all of his other senses. He could see the tips of Zim’s boots now, as he stopped just shy of Dib’s position. All he had to do was look around the corner, and he would spot him. 

Dib held his breath as Zim stood there for almost a full minute, and the human thought that the Irken knew he was there, but was only toying with him, kind of like how a child sometimes plays with their food before eating it. He looked around frantically, searching for another place to hide. Spotting a dumpster fairly close to him, Dib ran over to it, crawling under it and waiting. Waiting for what, though?  
Dib had no idea. Maybe he was subconsciously hoping that help would arrive somehow. 

It was a ridiculous thought on his part, to think that someone or something would assist him. If any help were to come, they would just be killed and devoured by Zim. No, Dib would just have to accept the fact that he was on his own for this one. If he wanted to get out of this alive, he had to rely on himself. He heard the Irken’s snarling grow louder, as his blood-spattered boots came fully into view. They slowly walked up to the dumpster and stopped just in front of it. Dib covered his mouth to keep from making any noise as Zim stood there, inches from Dib. The human hoped that the alien would walk away,  
but his hope was quickly dashed as Zim extended a PAK leg and began to feel underneath things to try and locate whatever had interrupted his feeding. 

In some small part of his mind, the Invader knew that something Living was very close by, and he wanted to catch it. He would find it, and kill it. He was so hungry, and he liked fresh, raw meat. Especially if it was still moving. He heard the sounds of breathing coming from underneath the dumpster next to him, and stopped to listen. 

Yes, something was definitely here with him. He smiled, showing his sharp teeth. He slowly began to bend down to look under the dumpster, and his new prey shrieked as he came face-to-face with it. Dib tried to kick Zim away, but the crazed Irken simply caught the leg in his hands, holding it in a powerful grip, as he brought his mouth towards it, opening it as he prepared to bite….


	2. Blood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Just so you all know, this chapter takes place a few hours before the first Chapter. Just thought that I should tell you that so none of you get confused.

Dib sat at one of the tables in the cafeteria, alone as usual. It was lunchtime, and today they were eating pizza and mashed potatoes, though it just looked like slop as usual, and smelled even worse. He glanced over at the other side of the cafeteria, where Zim had seated himself.

Dib had been studying him more closely than usual today, and he noticed that the alien had been acting very strange ever since he had arrived to skool that morning. When he walked, he stumbled, and couldn't seem to be able to keep his balance. Zim had fallen down quite a few times in the past few hours, and he'd just shakily get back on his feet to continue shuffling around.

He'd also hardly spoke, and when he did, it wasn't in complete sentences. He mostly just made these strange snarling or whimpering sounds, weakly clutching his stomach. Dib had approached him earlier, to began goading and mocking the alien as he normally would, but before he could even get a word out, Zim had stared at him, and though he was moving and breathing, his eyes did not seem to have any life in them. They looked dead.

When the Irken noticed Dib's presence, he had immediately started snarling and snapping at him, and reaching for him with his free arm. Saliva dripped from his mouth, running down his uniform, which was soiled and dirty, splattered with mud and dirt, but the rest of the Skool did not seem to notice Zim's disheveled state, or if they did, they just ignored it completely. The Invader's boots and gloves were also coated with mud and bits of grass, and he had left a trail of it when he had entered the building that morning.

"What's wrong with you, Zim?" Dib taunted wearily. "Did you finally snap after realizing that Earth will never be yours as long as I'm here?"

Zim moaned and doubled over, hand still on his stomach. "Hungry…" he whispered, snarling softly. "Want…" He was suddenly interrupted when he was pushed from behind. "Move, dummy!" Zita muttered, brushing past Zim and Dib, heading in the direction of the library.

Zim growled ferociously, his eyes suddenly igniting with rage as he reached out and grabbed her arm, yanking it towards himself. He opened his mouth and bit down, and would have sunk his teeth into flesh if Zita hadn't pulled free of his grip, running down the hall away from them. Zim continued to snap at the air for a few seconds, saliva flying in all directions, before he realized that his prey had escaped him.

He began to attempt to give chase, slowly shuffling in the direction which Zita had gone, momentarily forgetting Dib, who stood a few feet behind him, staring at him in shock, his eyes wide. "What the heck was that?! Were you gonna eat her or something?! What the hell is wrong with you?"

Zim ceased his shambling and stood there for a few seconds, unmoving, staring straight ahead, as his breathing turned into barely audible wheezing. He slowly turned to face Dib. "…Hungry… want… it. Need…" Then he trailed off, not thinking to finish his sentence. Dib wasn't sure if he even could finish his request. His eyes were glazed over, far away.

"What is it that you want, Zim? Don't you have food for yourself in that thing on your back?" Gesturing to the Irken's PAK. The only answer he received from the alien was a soft growl and a step in his direction. Zim gestured wildly, grunting angrily, and again looked toward the direction where Zita had gone. "….eat… need…" Then, frustrated that he was unable to fully explain himself, he suddenly lashed out at Dib, slashing at him with his claws, which were protruding from tears in his gloves, barely noticeable unless you were to look really closely. Dib dodged the attack, but Zim swung with his other hand, catching Dib on his arm.

Claws raked across bare flesh, drawing blood. Dib cried out as he clutched his wounded arm, glaring daggers at Zim, who stood there snarling at him threateningly, his eyes locked onto the blood dripping from the human's arm, seemingly unable to look away from it. He began to advance, slowly closing the distance between them in a few steps.

Dib backed away cautiously, as Zim stopped at the small puddle of blood that had formed on the floor after he had attacked Dib. He dropped to the ground, extending a hand and dipping a finger in the blood, slowly bringing it to his lips and licking his finger clean of the fluids. His eyes lit up briefly, as he glanced up at Dib, getting to his feet and lashing out at him again, as though the taste of blood fueled him, and releasing an ear-splitting screech.

Dib's mind told him to run, to flee. But Dib would not give in to his impulses as he stood his ground and realized that Zim intended to harm him further. He did not yet know the reason as to why the Irken was finding it so difficult to express himself, or to even speak coherently. He surmised that it must have been an experiment gone wrong somehow, a lab accident. It seemed to be the most logical explanation, as far as he could tell.

Zim was after him now. He needed to run. To find a place to hide until it was safe again. His first thought was going back to the cafeteria, where the throngs of students would surely provide him with enough protection to think this through. Then he remembered that lunch had ended two minutes ago, and kids would now be streaming out of the cafeteria in droves.

He continued onward anyway, hoping that the halls being packed with students would at least slow Zim down and allow Dib to escape from him. He turned a corner to see the kids coming toward him. He smiled and looked behind him. Zim was almost running now, falling down a few times, but still steadily gaining on his position. Every time the Irken fell, it would only increase his rage and frustration.

Dib heard screams erupt close to him, and turned around to see that Zim had tackled a passing child and was currently in the process of biting into his fellow classmates throat, the screams of agony and fear echoing down the hallways. Dib did not stop to help, for he knew there was nothing that he could do, and he doubted that the child would accept his help anyway. If he was even still alive, that is.

He ducked into a nearby bathroom, closing and locking the door for added protection. He could still hear the screams out in the hallways as Zim attacked more children and teachers, and Dib had a sinking feeling that as soon as he stepped out of the bathroom, that the hallways would be slick with blood of the innocent. The thought and subsequent mental image of the carnage that the alien was inflicting made his stomach churn.

After about half an hour, the screams and noises in the hallways slowly ceased. When Dib was certain that all was truly quiet, he hesitantly reached for the door handle, while trying to stop his body from trembling from a mixture of fright and adrenaline. He waited a few more minutes, all the while attempting to regulate his breathing, and prepare himself for what he knew he would see. He didn't want to go out there.

More than anything, he wanted to be home, safe in his room. He wanted to wake up from this nightmare, but he knew that he couldn't, because he was already awake. This was all real, every second of it. Try as he might (and he did try), he could not deny the fact that he was most certainly not dreaming. He was awake.

He took a deep breath, and opened the door.


	3. Death

The first thing that Dib saw was the blood. It was everywhere, creating strange and meaningless patterns on the walls, windows and floor. Bodies lay in heaps on the ground, some of them still twitching and spewing blood. The lights flickered and dimmed, some going out completely. The electrical wiring for the Skool had always been terrible, so the lights went out often.

Light filtered through the windows, illuminating the bodies. Dib promptly began puking up his lunch at the sight and the stench of death and decay, until he began retching, having exhausted everything that he had ate earlier. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and, sucking up his fear and panic, he began to approach each of the bodies, examining them to see if any of them were still alive.

He felt each of their pulses, except for the ones that he knew to be very dead, though he had yet to find even a single sign that any of them were still among the Living. From the looks of things, he had a pretty good idea that every single one of Zim's victims were all deceased. Most of the bodies had large chunks missing, some even had their throats ripped out, or entire limbs missing. A few of them were mostly just bone, all the flesh having been ripped away.

Dib had even came across one victim whose lips and most of his mouth were gone, including his tongue. He shuddered as he imagined how painful it must have been to die like that. Dib hoped that some, if not most, of these people had quick deaths, though he knew by all of the screaming he heard earlier that it was almost certain the majority of them did not.

The human hoped that at least a few people had escaped Zim's bloodbath. As much as Dib despised his classmates, he certainly did not wish them dead. He was trying to save all of them from Zim! He wouldn't wish this fate upon anyone, especially not like this, trapped in the school and unable to escape while they watched their friends be eaten alive by a monster.

He wondered for what seemed like the millionth time that day why Zim was doing this. This was definitely unlike the Irken to go to such extreme lengths to conquer Earth. He knew Zim well enough to know that he would never do something like this willingly, no matter how much he despised this planet and its people.

As he continued inspecting the bodies, slowly walking through the hall as he took in the sight of it all and searched for any survivors, Dib heard a faint growling sound a few corridors down. He stopped in his tracks and listened closely, making as little noise as possible. A few seconds later, he heard it again, a little louder this time. He also thought he heard the sound of very faint chewing, followed by tearing and ripping.

Dib knew straight away that Zim must be the source of the noises, and that he was still close by, closer than Dib had originally thought he would be. Which meant that he had to be extremely careful and quiet in order to avoid meeting the same fate as Zim's other victims had. The problem, however, was that the only exit on this side of the Skool was located in the same hallway where the sounds were originating from. Very slowly, he began walking, hugging the wall and making sure to stay in the shadows and to keep his breathing and his terror under control, but it was extremely difficult to do so considering the current circumstances.

The sounds of eating only became increasingly louder as Dib slowly grew closer, while at the same time trying to formulate a plan of escape, in the event that he was discovered and pursued again. He knew the layout of the Skool fairly well (much better than Zim did anyway), as well as quite a few potential hiding places, and he would use that knowledge to his advantage this time around.

Zim's growling suddenly ceased for a moment, as well as his eating. Dib froze and held his breath, afraid that the Irken had heard him and that he had been discovered. Zim continued eating after a few seconds, and Dib quietly exhaled in relief. He was still safe, for now.

As soon as the thought crossed his mind however, he accidentally ran into a trash can that someone had left out. The container tipped over, spilling trash everywhere and hitting the ground with a loud clang, the noise reverberating throughout the school. He mentally screamed at himself as Zim stopped eating, snapping his head up at the noises, and quickly scanning his surroundings before dropping the severed limb he was holding and slowly climbing to his feet. He had been seen.

Dib gasped and looked around frantically for a place to hide, deciding that the library was his best bet. It was somewhat safe, spacious, with lots of places to hide. He began running in that direction, with Zim hot on his trail. He reached his destination in less than a minute, entering and locking the doors behind him.

As soon as Dib turned away from the door, Zim was there, slamming his body against it. His growling only intensified as he clawed at the wooden frame, creating gouges in the wood. Pushing a bookcase against the door for extra protection, Dib began to throughly examine his surroundings. There were a few other kids huddled up in the corner of the room, and they sneered at him. "Oh, it's Dib!"

They began making fun of him, insulting his head and calling him names. Dib began to get angry, and was suddenly very tempted to open the door and let Zim eat these kids alive, too. He was nearing his breaking point. He had basically just saved these kids lives, and this is how they repay him, by continuing to humiliate him?

"Look, we don't have much time! Zim is gonna get in here eventually, and when he does, we're all dead! So we need to work together to make sure that doesn't happen! Can you do that?"

Zita scoffed at him. "We're not doing anything with you! We're gonna figure something out by ourselves!" The other kids nodded in agreement. Dib sighed, frustrated. "So let me get this straight. You would rather die than help me fortify this place? That's really stupid!"

Zita opened her mouth to reply, but screamed instead when one of Zim's arms broke through the glass window on the door, flailing wildly, searching for something to grab. Green blood ran down the Irken's arm, dripping onto the carpet. Zim did not seem to notice or give any signs that he had even felt the slightest bit of pain at the injury.

Dib looked around, desperately trying to find another way out of the building. He spotted a window across from him, and sighed in relief. He went over to it and checked to see if it was unlocked. It was. He heard more screams, and looked behind him to see that Zim was halfway inside the room now, fixated on Zita and the other kids.

He tried to get their attention. "This window is unlocked! If we're fast enough, we can all climb outside before Zim gets in here!"

Zita glanced from Dib to Zim, deciding on what to do. Eventually, she made up her mind and scrambled over to the window just as Zim broke into the library and tackled the person closest to him, pinning them to the ground and tearing into their throat. The other kids began screaming and rushing towards the window all at once, Dib having gone through first.

The other kids were in such a rush to escape that they were shoving each other in an attempt to distract Zim long enough for them to get away. This only resulted in more casualties as the alien quickly killed the kids who were serving as distractions, and attacked the others. One kid almost made it through the window after Dib and Zita, but was grabbed and dragged back inside at the last second by Zim.

Dib immediately began running away from the Skool, looking behind him one last time to see Zim climbing through the window, while Zita ran in another direction screaming for help. Dib knew that the former Invader would probably go after her next, and then continue pursuing him. He needed to prepare himself for that. He kept running, not stopping until he reached his house.

He hurriedly got out his keys and unlocked the door, yanking it open and locking it behind him. His father and Gaz were gone, and Dib guessed that they probably went somewhere to eat for dinner, and would be back soon. He sighed, sitting down on the couch in his living room to rest and process all of this. No sooner had he sat down when there was a very loud scratching noise at the front door.

Dib froze, not moving from his spot on the couch. The scratching grew even louder, and was soon accompanied by growling. Zim had not gone after Zita like he had thought, but had apparently ignored her and set his sights on Dib instead.

The noises soon ceased after a few minutes, long enough for Dib to think that Zim had gone. Then the noises would pick up again in a different section of the house, such as the back door, or one of the windows in the kitchen.

Dib soon realized that Zim was trying to find a way inside of his house.

The human quickly began locking all doors and windows, as the scratching turned into banging. The sun was beginning to set, casting an eerie glow over everything as the light slowly faded, making him see things, like shadows moving of their own accord. Dib thought he saw Zim's shadow on the wall, and cried out in fright, until it disappeared.

He told himself that it was just his mind playing tricks on him, that nothing was really there. That all he needed was sleep, and then he would be able to think more clearly. But he could not sleep. How could he, when there was a ravenous, half-zombified Irken Invader with the desire to eat him alive who was currently in the process of attempting to break into his house?

So he remained awake, fearing the shadows that danced on the walls and ceiling. Praying that Zim hadn't found a way inside, and wasn't creeping around the house right then. The banging suddenly stopped, replaced by a heavy silence. Dib thought he heard a low creaking noise in the basement, and silently cursed as he realized that he had forgotten to lock the basement door.

He quickly ran downstairs, descending the steps three at a time, and stopped in his tracks when he saw that he had not been wrong. The basement door was wide open, letting in the cold air from outside. He had been so preoccupied with hiding from shadows that he had neglected to check the entire house.

To make matters even worse for himself, he could clearly hear a slow shuffling sound behind him, getting closer by the second. He froze with fear, unable to move, as the last bit of the Sun's light reflected a pair of contact lenses on the window in front of him. Contact lenses that were attached to a face with green skin. Then Dib heard growling in his ear, and could even smell his breath. The smell of death.

And it was then that Dib knew that Zim had indeed found a way inside the house, and was now standing directly behind him.


	4. Fighting Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dib fights back against Zim.

The way Dib saw it, he only had two choices: he could either try to run, which he knew had no chance of success, or he could fight back. He didn't have much time to decide. Zim was still standing over his shoulder, waiting for him to make his move.

Dib quickly spun around and threw a punch at the Irken's face. Zim raised his arms to block the attack, but was too slow. He stumbled back a few steps but quickly shook off the shock of the blow and lunged towards the human, trying to bite him. Dib moved aside, and the alien got a mouthful of nothing.

Dib saw that the basement door was still wide open, and thinking quickly, he started to make a run for it, to escape into the darkness of the night. Just as he was about to step foot outside, Zim grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him back inside the house, spinning him around as he was thrown against the wall farthest from the door.

He hit the floor, banging his head on the ground so hard that he saw stars, his vision swimming. Shaking his head to try and get himself to focus again, he groggily stared up at the Irken, who was standing over him and watching him hungrily. One of his contacts had been lost when Dib had punched him, and that one magenta eye seemed to glow in the darkness, making him look all the more menacing.

Zim stumbled over to the door and slammed it shut, cutting off Dib's only chance of escape. He sat up against the wall, his head throbbing with pain. He hoped that he didn't have a concussion. That was the last thing he needed right now. "What do you want, Zim?" He asked tiredly, trying not to lose consciousness. Zim growled, slowly lifting an arm to point at the human. "…want… you…" he responded, sending shivers up the humans spine. "Are you gonna eat me, too?" Dib asked in a small voice, scared of the response.

Zim giggled mainiacally for a minute, amused at his victim's behavior. "Yeeesssss" he hissed, like a snake. Then he lunged at the human again, as he grabbed his arm and sunk his sharp little teeth into Dib's flesh.

The paranormal investigator screamed, and with energy he didn't even know he had, he kicked the alien so hard that he went flying, his teeth scraping across Dib's arm, drawing blood. Dib scrambled away from this… thing… getting back onto his feet and raced up the stairs, as Zim released a scream that was so loud and so full of rage that it hurt Dib's ears.

He headed into the kitchen and turned on the lights, grabbing a knife from one of the drawers as he heard Zim angrily stomping up the stairs, and prepared himself. The Irken came into view as he reached the top of the staircase, his wig now gone, revealing his antennae. He saw Dib and screeched, rushing at him.

Dib held up the knife to try and warn him away, but the gesture did nothing, as Zim shoved him against the counter and pressed down with all of his weight, effectively pinning him in place as he continued his assault. He still kept trying to bite the human, but Dib wouldn't stop moving, and he would miss his target each time. He growled with irritation and pushed him harder against the counter.

The force that Zim was applying to attempt to keep him still must take a lot of effort, Dib realized. Zim pressed down even harder, causing the edge of the counter to dig itself into Dib's back, making him cry out in pain. The Irken studied him with sadistic glee in his dull eyes, a hint of a smile visible. Dib raised his knife, ready to plunge it into Zim's throat, but this action was witnessed by his enemy and quickly foiled as his arm was pinned down with the rest of his body, sharp claws piercing his flesh.

Zim wrestled the knife out of his grasp and held it over Dib's arm, bringing it down, and Dib winced as the cold metal made contact with his skin. Then he gasped with pain as Zim began slowly cutting into his arm. Blood ran down onto the table, and the alien bent down to lick it up, like a dog. Then he resumed digging his claws into his captive again.

Pain shot up his arm, and Dib cried out with agony and fear, earning a reaction from Zim as he giggled, and dug his claws deeper into his prisoner's arm. Dib screamed as the pain overwhelmed him, and instinct finally kicked in as he thrashed against Zim's hold, trying to break free. This did not last long however, as he was lifted up and slammed back against the edge of the table again and again as Zim tried to quell his efforts to fight back. The knife clattered to the floor with a loud clang, distracting the alien as he growled and searched for the object that had diverted his attention.

Dib seized his chance and kicked out, pushing Zim off of him as he raced to the front door, unlocking it. He gripped the doorknob and was about to turn it when he was grabbed from behind again and dragged away from the door. He was about to start flailing against his captors hold, when he felt sharp teeth sink into the side of his throat. He screamed, reaching behind him to feel for something to grab.

His hands came into contact with Zim's antenna, and he pulled as hard as he could. The Irken screamed in agony directly into his ear, causing Dib to wince from the high volume of the noise. Zim released him and stumbled away, gripping his antenna and screaming. His last contact fell off, revealing his dying eyes in all of their glory. One eye remained a bright blood red, while the other eye was a dark, dead gray, almost black in color. He turned to face Dib once more, pure rage burning in what remained of his eyes. He screeched and rushed him again, as Dib tried to pick up the knife off of the floor in a hurry.

He only managed to grip the handle before he was kicked in the stomach, falling to the floor in a heap. Zim fell on him and started snapping his jaws, only held back by Dib's arms on his chest as he tried to keep the Irken at bay. Spittle flew as the alien continued biting at the air, inches from Dib's jugular vein. The human's arms were beginning to tire and ache from Zim's weight, and he knew that they would give at any second. And when they did, Zim would bite into his jugular, and his life would be over in less than a minute.

He briefly pondered the thought of it, thinking of allowing this to happen, to give in and let Zim rip into his jugular. It would be quick, he thought, and all of his troubles would be over. All of the bullying and the false proclamations of insanity would stop. He would finally be at peace. He loosened his hold just slightly, and Zim bent down further, coming even closer to his throat. He was so close that the alien's teeth were brushing his skin. He closed his eyes. This was his way out. This was his chance to end it all.

Dib knew that Zim would not stop, would never stop until he got what he wanted most. He had always been like that, even before all of this had happened. So why not just give it to him? Let him have what he wanted. There was no point in fighting it anymore. He was done, finished. He was nothing more than a punching bag for others. Beyond that, his life was meaningless.

But then he thought of all the great things that he could accomplish later in life when he was older, he could show everyone who had tormented him as a boy that he was worth something and that he did have a purpose. And it was this thought that motivated him to continue fighting, to resist the urge to give in. He wouldn't let Zim win. He would never let him win, not while he was still breathing. Holding Zim back with one arm, he raised his other, the one with the knife, and plunged the blade into his squeedily-spooch. Zim gasped and coughed green blood into Dib's face before going limp. Dib waited a few seconds before shoving the Irken off of him and slowly getting to his feet.

He stared at Zim's body with disbelief, poking and prodding at it with his shoe. It remained seemingly lifeless, unmoving. Dib bent down to examine the body more closely, when the eyes suddenly opened. He stumbled back in shock, as Zim stood up and grinned, showing his razor-sharp teeth. "Got you…" he hissed.

Dib ran to the front door again, turning the knob and exiting the house as the inky blackness of the night swallowed him whole. He began to run as he heard Zim following him, and then he heard that sound he had dreaded ever since he was a young child…

It was the sound of PAK legs being deployed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: This was one of my favorite chapters to write, because it’s so intense. I hope you liked it, too.


	5. Prisoner

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zim captures Dib, and keeps him captive in his base.

Dib stopped running when he heard a growl behind him, and glancing back towards the source, he saw the Irken retreat back into the house, seemingly realizing that he had forgotten to reapply his disguise. The human took this opportunity to hide behind one of the other houses nearby, safely out of sight.

A few minutes later, after a lot of screaming due to some difficulties with putting his disguise back on, Zim emerged, his contacts in and his wig atop his head, concealing his antenna, but just barely. Dib was surprised that he could even remember how to dress himself properly anymore, since the alien no longer appeared to possess any kind of knowledge of basic behavior.

Most of Zim's thoughts and actions seemed less like himself as time passed, becoming more animalistic by the hour. Dib had noticed that the alien was losing himself to whatever had caused this behavior in the first place, and it probably wouldn't be long before the Zim that he knew was gone forever, fueled only by basic internal instinct.

Zim stood on the front walkway of Dib's house for a few moments, swaying slightly, as if his legs were just barely able to hold him upright. He took a step forward, stumbling almost immediately as he barely managed to keep his balance. He snarled to himself angrily, foam dripping from his mouth as he extended a PAK leg to keep himself from hitting the ground.

As soon as he was able to walk a few steps without almost falling over, Zim slowly stumbled through Dib's front lawn, searching for any signs of his target. The human watched with wide, interested eyes as his enemy looked for him. The way that he was acting, Dib had never seen him do this before this week. The investigator side of himself wanted to continue studying him, and take notes and pictures.

But doing so would only alert Zim to his hiding place, and he couldn't risk being seen again like he had been at the Skool the previous afternoon. He knew that he should be running to find a safer place to hide out at, but his body was unwilling to move from his current position, keeping him rooted to the spot as he found himself unable to turn away from the danger that was only a few feet from him.

Dib continued watching, mesmerized, as Zim stopped to stare at a nearby tree, a look of absolute hunger mixed with confusion on his face. He approached this particular tree, stopping when he was standing directly in front of it. He deployed his PAK lasers and fired, screaming. The tree burst into flame that was so hot it burned dark blue, almost black.

The human's eyes widened as he watched Zim grow angrier by the second. He had never known that those things on his back could do anything like that! It only caused him to fear the Irken even more.

The tree was turned to a pile of ash within seconds. Dib could not tear his eyes away from the remains, until a gust of wind scattered the ashes, lifting them into the air to be claimed by the unknown.

"Woah," Dib whispered, stunned at the sheer power of Zim's PAK. He gasped as Zim turned in his direction, having sensed a presence here other than his own. The Irken began to sniff the air, attempting to locate the danger that he felt.

It was at that moment that Dib felt something wet drip down onto his arm, and he reached up to touch his cheek, surprised that his hand came away bloody. He surmised that perhaps part of the tree that Zim disintegrated had been launched toward him, and had scraped him deeply enough to draw blood.

Zim continued trying to find a scent, coming closer to Dib's position with each step that he took. He could smell something… and it was getting stronger. After a moment, he knew what he was tracking… the scent of blood. He adjusted his gaze with his one good eye, to stare directly in front of him, locking eyes with his adversary. He screeched (the sound was so high-pitched that Dib was forced to cover his ears), rushing the human.

Dib yelped and tried to run, but the Irken was by his side before he could even take two steps. Zim grabbed the human's shirt, violently throwing him against the tree that he had previously been using for cover. Dib raised his arms to protect himself the best he could, but was surprised by the alien kicking him in his diaphragm, forcing him to his knees as the breath was knocked out of him.

Unable to breathe or defend himself, he stared at Zim with defiance in his eyes. Growling, Zim raised his arm to grip the human's head, slamming it into the tree behind him. After that first blow, pain erupted from Dib's skull, and the force of it made his vision swim. Zim slammed his head into the tree a second time, and darkness began to cloud his vision.

Apparently not satisfied, the alien did it again, twice as hard, and this time Dib could feel himself slipping into unconsciousness. He tried to fight the desire to give in to it, but it proved to be futile. Zim stood over him, staring into his eyes with a smile on his face, showing his blood-stained teeth. Dib's eyes slid closed as darkness took him.

Zim extended a PAK leg and scooped up his now defeated prey, and began the trek back to his base.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dib groggily opened his eyes for a brief moment as he switched between consciousness and unconsciousness, his vision still blurry and fogged over with pain. All he could feel was the pain in his head, as well as Zim's PAK legs wrapped around his body a little too tightly, elevating him so he was off of the ground, being held high above Zim, and securely keeping him in place and preventing him from escaping. They were slowly moving, and the human could see the blurry outline of Zim's base in the distance, before he slipped once more into darkness.

When he eventually did wake up again, he found himself being dumped into a dark room by Zim, devoid of anything, except for a window that was far too high up for Dib to reach. It was dark outside now, and only the full moon provided enough light for Dib to see his surroundings. He briefly considered pounding on the door to demand to be let out, but decided against it, as that would only serve to get the Irken riled up and filled with anger, and he didn't want that.

He pulled out his phone from the pocket of his jeans, and turned on the built-in flashlight to illuminate the room more easily. He swore when he discovered that the screen of his phone had been cracked, though he didn't know exactly when that had occurred. Probably during one of his fights with this new version of Zim earlier that day, because he knew for a fact that his phone was not cracked when he woke up that morning.

Sighing, he set his phone gently on the carpeted floor, getting up to stretch his aching muscles and walk around for a while. Groaning in pain, he got up into a standing position, but just as he did so, the door to his makeshift cell opened with a creaking sound, and Zim stood there, holding a severed limb, which he tossed to Dib, "…Eat…"

The child stared at the hand, feeling slightly queasy at the sight of it. "I can't eat that, Zim."

The Irken grew angry at this statement, as he growled irritably and threw off his disguise, tossing it on the ground carelessly as he pulled at his antenna. He picked up his new prisoner by his throat and tried to force Dib to take a bite of the limb. "EAT! EAT!"

"I CAN'T, ZIM!"

The Irken stopped trying to force the hand into the human's mouth, staring at him with those mismatched eyes, not seeming to understand what Dib was telling him. After a beat, Zim threw Dib to the ground, and began eating the hand himself. He tore at it, ripping off the flesh with ease. When he had finished, he discarded the bones by throwing them into the living room.

Dib seized this opportunity to question his captor. "Why are you keeping me here? Why am I even still alive right now?"

Zim remained silent for a few seconds, Dib's only response being the usual growling. He remained somewhat patient with the alien, waiting for him to find his voice again. Then, he did. "Need…you…"

"Why? For what purpose?"

"…want…help…"

Dib walked up to him and squatted down, so that he was eye level with the alien. "What did you do to yourself now, Zim? How did you end up like this?"

"….don't…know. C-can't…"

Dib began examining the alien thoroughly. "I don't know if I can help you, Zim. Whatever changed you into this… monster… it seems to be permanent. I could be wrong, of course, but from the looks of things, you're not doing so well. Your eyes are definitely not gonna get better. Your left eye is rotting, so I'm assuming that you can no longer see out of it." He waved a hand in front of said eye to test his theory. Sure enough, nothing happened. He was definitely going blind.

"Your other eye… well, it looks okay, but I don't doubt that it will eventually quit working, too." He stood up, sighing sadly. "Zim, I'm no doctor, but any normal human can see that you should not be alive right now. The damage to your body is too severe. Forgive me for saying this, but in your current state, you sort of resemble a… decaying corpse."

The Irken stood there in silence, and Dib didn't know if he was going to attack him or not, so he kept his guard up just in case. "….no…help?" Zim asked, his voice sounding as if he was pleading with Dib to reconsider.

The human shook his head, "I'm sorry, Zim, but I just don't have the technology available to help you, much less find a cure for… whatever is literally destroying your body. Even if I did have that kind of equipment, I don't know if I'd be able to use it to completely cure you. As a matter of fact… you seem to be dying."

At this news, Zim began screaming, seeming to be distraught that he would not be receiving the help that he wanted. He collapsed to the floor, staring at Dib with a hint of sadness in his good eye. That sadness morphed into rage, as the Irken got up and exited the room, slamming the door behind him.

Dib returned to sitting on the floor, shivering from the cold that crept into the room from the slightly open window above him. He wrapped his arms around himself, wishing that he had asked Zim for a blanket to keep warm.

After a few minutes, the door opened again, and Zim reappeared, dragging something behind him. As he entered the room fully, by the light emitted by Dib's flashlight on his phone, he saw that it was a body. And it was moving.

Zim closed the door, gazing at Dib with malice as he reached out to grab the writhing human in front of him. Dib gasped as the alien effortlessly snapped this helpless human's neck, killing him. He turned away as Zim began to eat, not wanting to witness it. The Irken had obviously brought his meal into this room because he wanted Dib to see this as it unfolded. This was his revenge for not getting cured.

The paranormal investigator covered his ears as the sounds of Zim loudly eating resonated through the small room. This went on for several minutes, and despite his best efforts, Dib was unable to block out the sounds of snapping bone and tearing flesh. Blood had pooled around the body, soaking into the carpet, while the heavy stench of internal organs and bodily fluids filled the room, causing the young child to gag violently, while he tried to keep himself from spewing out what little food he had left in his stomach.

Dib was afraid that if he vomited now, Zim would only grow more angry than he already was, and he also knew that the Irken could barely keep himself from feeding upon him as it was. He was only keeping Dib alive because he wanted to be cured, and was forced to resort to his enemy for help.

The sounds of eating suddenly stopped, as a heavy silence took its place. Dib slowly looked up, briefly uncovering his ears. Zim was still kneeling beside his meal, staring at him intently, waiting for his reaction. The alien snarled and bared his blood-stained teeth at Dib, daring him to do something to stop him.

The paranormal investigator got Zim's message, loud and clear: This is what will become of you if you refuse to help me. This will be your fate. You will either help me, or you will die.

Dib definitely did not want to die, and Zim was not allowing him to choose. The Irken had basically already chose for him. Sighing, he reluctantly gave in. "Okay, Zim. I get the message. I'll do what I can to help you."

His green-skinned captor continued staring at him, his one working eye devoid of any emotion. After a few seconds, Zim stood up and grabbed his latest victim by its feet, dragging the body out of the room to store in another section of his base for later. Dib sighed with relief as some of the smells went with them, making it slightly easier to breathe now, but not by much. The sickening stench of death and decaying bodies still hung in the air, and Dib began dry heaving, having nothing left in his stomach to throw up anymore.

While he was trying to focus on trying to stop retching, he noticed that Zim had left the door to his room open slightly. Standing up on shaky legs, and feeling a little weak and light-headed both from hunger and also as a result of Zim smashing his head against that tree a few hours prior, Dib began to quietly approach the open doorway, praying that the alien would not hear him.

Dib places a hand on the door handle and slowly began to open it further, flinching when the door emitted a very loud squeaking sound. He waited a few moments to see if Zim had heard the noise, but when nothing happened, he pushed the door open all the way, and stepped out of the dark room.

He rushed to the front door of Zim's house and turned the doorknob, but groaned when he discovered that it had been locked very securely, so as to prevent any victims from escaping their fate. Zim apparently still retained some of his former intelligence, and was still fairly smart, even if he was pretty much beyond saving at this point.

Accepting the fact that he would not be escaping anytime soon, he returned to his previous task of exploring Zim's upper floors. The living room was in extreme disarray, with pieces of various types of Irken technology scattered all over the floor, as well as the expected blood puddles and stains, and bits of discarded human remains. The television was overturned and destroyed, smashed to pieces.

Venturing into the kitchen area next, Dib examined the destruction that had befallen this room, as well. The kitchen table was also destroyed, charred and blackened by an unknown weapon or substance. The cupboard doors hung, dangling by their hinges by a thread, and the faucet was even worse off, its metal twisted and bent, almost completely unrecognizable, and its knobs were missing from their usual places. Food and cereal boxes with Irken lettering and labeled with the Irken insignia had been thrown all over the room, spilling out onto the floor.

He was still exploring the kitchen, when he heard the soft footfalls of Zim's booted feet. He rushed to return to his room before the alien discovered that he was gone, but just as he reached the kitchen entrance, Zim appeared in front of him, blocking his path. His mouth and uniform were soiled with fresh blood, and he smelled very strongly of death.

Dib covered his mouth and nose as the smell hit him full force, his stomach lurching in protest. Zim stood there, staring directly at him and growling in a threatening nature. Dib tried to think of an excuse. "I….I, um, had to go to the bathroom."

Zim took a step towards him, his eyes narrowed in anger and warning. His snarling became louder and more aggressive. He obviously was not believing a single word of Dib's story. The human slowly walked toward the damaged Irken, hands raised in surrender. "Zim, I don't want to fight you. I want to help you, remember? I'm going back to my room now, see?"

Zim walked up to him and forcibly grabbed his arm, gripping it much tighter than was necessary, and practically dragged his prisoner towards his room, shoving him in and slamming the door shut behind him, and the young ghost hunter then heard the sound of a lock being turned, once again leaving Dib in darkness. The wind picked up slightly, causing a draft of cold air to creep into the room, and Dib shivered again. He wished that he could find a way to close that window. He imagined that Zim had used his PAK legs to be able to even get high enough to open it in the first place.

His stomach growled loudly, and he briefly considered asking Zim if he could have something to eat, but instantly dismissed the thought as he remembered that the Irken had attempted to feed him earlier with the severed hand from one of his victims. Then, he remembered that he had a candy bar in his pocket, though it was most likely melted by now. He retrieved it, somewhat surprised to discover that it was still mostly intact. He began eating it, while letting his mind drift elsewhere.

What could possibly be sustaining Zim enough to be able to keep him alive for this long? His body was not even supposed to be functioning right now. He should be dead, but he wasn't, and Dib didn't know if that was a good thing or not. He finished his candy, returning the wrapper to his pocket. He was still hungry, though his stomach was no longer growling.

He sat there, with only his phone for light. Zim had not been kind enough to at least provide him with a bed, and he had no blankets or pillows, either. So he was forced to lie on the carpet or sit against the wall, staring at nothing, with only his thoughts to keep him company.

He sighed, knowing that he may as well try to get at least a little bit of sleep, though he knew that he would not get much rest due to a lack of a bed, and the cold wind from the open window. He lay on the floor and tried to get as comfortable as he could under his current circumstances, and closed his eyes

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dib opened his eyes when he felt a hard kick in his stomach. It was light outside, and sunlight streamed through his window. He looked up to see Zim standing over him. The Irken kicked him again, "…up…"

The young investigator rubbed the sleep from his eyes and stood up, stretching. "Okay, I'm up, I'm up. What are we doing today, Zim?"

The Irken was all dressed up in his disguise, though one of his antenna hung limply down his face. "…Skool…" he responded with a snarl. Dib reached over to gently touch his antenna, earning a growl from Zim as he slapped his hand away. The child sighed. "Zim, I'm not gonna hurt you, okay? One of your antenna is exposed, and I would like to fix it for you, if you'll let me."

The Irken slowly nodded, standing relatively still, save for his gentle swaying as he fought to keep his balance. Dib removed his wig and adjusted the antenna, setting it in its usual position, before re-applying the wig. "There you go. All done."

Zim started to slowly head toward the front door, but Dib stopped him. "Wait, maybe you shouldn't go anywhere, in this… condition that you're in. It would draw way too much attention. Not to mention the fact that you went on a killing spree the last time you showed up there."

The Irken stopped to think about that, then apparently chose to ignore that fact. "….won't…remember…" He gripped the doorknob, pulling at it, and quickly grew angry when it did not open. He growled and pulled harder, prompting Dib to step in and help. "Zim, you turn doorknobs, remember? You don't pull them. See?" He demonstrated opening the door for the alien.

Zim nodded and shambled out of his house, toward the Skool. Dib was reluctant to tag along with him, but he didn't really have a choice in the matter anymore. Zim was growing weaker by the day, but he could still overpower Dib if he really wanted to. He just hoped that no one was stupid enough to provoke Zim once they arrived at the Skool.


	6. Cutting It Close

Alien and human walked together in silence, and all was quiet except for the noises that Zim was making deep within his throat, growling softly every few seconds, out of hunger and primal anger. Dib watched him closely, making sure that he didn't have any plans to do anything that would draw attention to them.

The paranormal investigator looked around at the houses that lined the block, worried that someone would notice Zim's blood-stained attire and create panic, which Dib knew, would then trigger Zim to attack anyone who came near him.

Dib knew that it was now his responsibility to coach Zim on how to behave like a normal human again, since his mysterious transformation seemed to have erased that knowledge from his brain, and everything except how to apply his disguise was lost to the alien, and even dressing himself in his wig and contacts seemed to be immensely challenging now.

It was almost heartbreaking, Dib thought, to see this happen to him. Even though Zim had done some pretty bad things since he had came to Earth, the monster hunter would still never wish this fate upon anyone. To be reduced to this, an animal, that craved the flesh and blood of innocents. It was a terrible fate, one that he was sure that Zim had not expected.

A bird chirped nearby, attracting the Irken's attention as he spotted it and snarled, lurching toward it hungrily, reaching out to try to grab the winged creature, and he would have succeeded in catching it, if the bird hadn't flown away at the last second.

Dib noticed this brief display of hostility, and grabbed the alien's arm, causing Zim to turn and face him, growling angrily. "…hungry…"

The human sighed. "Didn't you just eat an hour ago?"

Zim snarled at him, bearing his teeth again, as he became fixated on Dib's throat. He could smell the human's blood, and it only greatly increased his desire to feed. The Irken's eyes narrowed as he swayed in place, becoming weak with hunger, and he began salivating as the thought of tearing into the human next to him and devouring his warm, fresh organs and all the rest of him only made him crave it more.

Sensing danger, and immediately realizing what was happening, Dib began slowly backing away from Zim, putting distance between them. "Zim, I know you're hungry, but I am the only one who can help you get better. Killing me will do nothing except drastically reduce your chances of being cured. You would basically be killing yourself. Is that what you want?"

The alien remained fixated upon the human, and the smell of Dib's blood only grew stronger as his heart beat faster. Zim's mind could only think of how much he wanted his sustenance. Eat, eat, eat! NOW! His whole body was screaming at him to attack the living being that stood a few feet away from him, easy prey. If he gave in to his urges, he could catch Dib off guard and have him pinned in seconds, ripping into him with his bare claws with renewed vigor, and satisfying his intense hunger.

Zim tried to fight his inner desires with what little sanity he had left, tearing his gaze away from the potential food source, leaning against the fence beside him and howling with conflicted agony. Being cured was far more important than feeding right now.

Dib stood there, wondering what he should do next. He wanted to help Zim, he really did, but he didn't know how to do that at the moment. He started to approach the troubled alien, wanting to find some way to ease his pain somehow, but Zim would not allow it.

The Irken snarled ferociously and shoved him back, "AWAY, AWAY!"

The force of the push sent Dib sprawling out onto the street, his fall cushioned by his backpack. The paranormal investigator hurriedly scrambled back onto his feet, as he glanced around fearfully, and gasped as he spotted an unsuspecting adult walking down the street across from them. Zim's noises suddenly quieted significantly, and Dib looked up at him, following his gaze, and realizing that he had apparently also seen the other human.

Zim deployed his PAK legs and, no longer able to fight his growing bloodlust, scuttled past Dib to reach the other side of the street in less than three seconds, tackling the unknowing victim and tearing his throat open before he had even a chance to cry out. Dib knew that there was nothing that he could do to save the person that Zim was currently devouring, or to make the Irken himself stop eating. The young investigator covered his ears and closed his eyes, sliding to the ground with his back against the fence, trying to drown out the noises that the alien was making.

Dib had learned the hard way that approaching Zim while he was eating was a VERY bad idea, when he was being held prisoner back at the base. He had wanted to ask him a question about what had happened to his little robot that always used to be there, but he had not been aware that Zim was eating at the time.

As Dib had reached out to place a hand on his shoulder to get his attention, the alien had attacked him as well, snapping his jaws, and had nearly managed to take a bite out of one of his arms, and Dib had barely been able to get away in time, running back to his room and slamming the door shut. Zim had slowly pursued him, banging his hands against the door for some time after he had caught up with him, and had only gone away when he had eventually lost interest in Dib.

He shuddered as he recalled this memory, just one of many that proved to him that Zim was not who he used to be, and it was very possible that the Irken would never go back to being the determined adversary that Dib had come to know in the past. Sometimes, he missed the old Zim, and wished that he could have him back. He would trade anything to have his Zim come back to him, instead of this cannibalistic version of him that he had learned to fear.

He was so immersed in his own thoughts and wallowing in his own sorrow, that he didn't notice when Zim finished eating, not feeling the hard kick in his ribs. He didn't notice that Zim was standing over him until the Irken grabbed his arm and forcefully yanked him to his feet, screeching into his face as loud as he could. Dib flinched and cried out in fear and surprise, covering his ears to protect them from the noise.

The alien's scream echoed for several blocks around them, the sound of it causing Dib's ears to began ringing. Zim retracted his PAK legs as the echo faded away, leaving them in silence once more. Still gripping the human's arm, Zim continued slowly making his way toward the Skool, his claws digging deep into Dib's arm, causing the young child to whimper softly in pain. Zim paid him no mind, continuing to stare straight ahead, his disguised eyes blank and lifeless.

Dib tried to pull himself out of Zim's grasp several times, but the alien only snarled and yanked the child closer to him, tightening his grip each time he did so. "Zim, you're hurting me," Dib whimpered softly, "You're hurting me,"

The diseased Irken turned to face him, and growled harshly deep within his throat. It was a guttural sound, one so full of warning that it made Dib immediately cease his complaining, in fear that Zim would attack him if he uttered so much as another sound. So therefore, he had no choice but to remain silent, and endure the pain of razor sharp claws being embedded into his arm.

Soon, the silhouette of the Skool appeared in the distance, and Dib sighed inwardly in relief. Then, he remembered that he and Zim still had to be in Miss Bitters' class together for the duration of the school day, and Dib grew worried at this realization.

"Zim, when we get to Skool, I want you to try and control your impulses, okay? For me?"

"…can't…"

"Yes, you can, Zim. Just, think about the cure. About getting cured. Try to fight it, like you did earlier this morning. Can you do that? Please?"

Zim did not respond, and Dib began to worry. He hoped that Zim would, at the very least, consider it. If not, they were in trouble. As they approached the entrance to the Skool, the doors opened for them automatically, and once they had entered, Zim released his hold on his human.

Dib sighed and rubbed his aching wound, quickly wiping the blood on his pants so Zim would not notice it and be tempted to attack him. As he walked down the hall with the Irken by his side, they were suddenly stopped by Torque, who was acting as the current hall monitor for the entirety of the week. "You're late for Skool."

Dib looked around nervously. "I know, I'm sorry. I tried to get here as fast as I could, but my friend here needed me to help him with something very important. It won't happen again."

"Make sure that it doesn't. You get one more chance, and if you're late a third time, then I'm gonna have to report you and your friend to the Skool Principal."

Dib nodded, just wanting to get away from this kid. "Okay, I understand."

Torque moved aside to let them through. "Alright, good. You can go now." Dib gently grabbed Zim's hand to pull him along, when Torque stopped them again. "Hang on, wait a second. What's wrong with that kid?" He pointed to Zim. "And what's all over his clothes?"

Zim growled at Torque, and narrowed his eyes, and Dib knew that if he didn't do something to diffuse this situation, then they would have another body on their hands. "Um, what's wrong with him? He's just having a bad day is all. I'm sure he'll get over it soon. As for his clothes, he spilled some grape juice on them this morning, and he didn't have time to clean it up, so he had to come to Skool like that."

Torque nodded, seeming to accept Dib's story. "Wasn't he the one who pulled that prank a few days ago?"

"Prank?" Dib asked, feeling a little confused. "What prank?"

Torque laughed. "You didn't hear about it? It was pretty funny. Apparently, he placed a bunch of fake bodies all over the Skool and freaked everybody out! They were running around screaming, and had fake blood all over them and everything. It looked pretty damn real if you ask me, but the teachers and the Principal said that it was all a show."

Dib glanced at Zim, who was still growling quietly at Torque. "Oh, yeah, I actually did hear about that now that you mention it. Come on, Zim." He tugged at the Irken's arm, and the green-skinned alien began shambling away, toward Miss Bitters' classroom.

When they entered the classroom, Miss. Bitters was just wrapping up a lecture on the Middle Ages, "…and that is why DOOM befell them, and they all perished, suffering unimaginable agony!" While she was speaking, Zim took his seat, while Dib sat across from him. He wanted to be as close to the alien as possible so he could keep an eye on him, and make sure that he stayed out of trouble.

Dib noticed right then that one of his classmates, Melvin, was staring at Zim with a strange expression on his face. The Irken had caught him staring and was now growling at him, gripping the sides of his desk hard enough for his claws to create deep gashes and scratch marks in the wood. Zim started to get up, his eyes still on the child who was fixated on him, and began to move towards them, snarling deep within his throat.

Melvin got out of his seat as Zim steadily came closer, until they were so close that they were nearly touching. Zim reached out and gripped his throat, and slammed him up against the wall, prompting Dib to step in, "Zim! Remember what I said earlier?"

Still holding Melvin by his throat, the alien turned to him, and the young human thought he saw a glimmer of sadness in his eyes. "…doesn't…matter…dead…soon…"

"That's not true, Zim. We'll make you better, okay? I promise. All you need to do is be as patient as you can. Please just let Melvin go, and don't make this any worse than it has to be."

Zim turns his attention back to the child that was shaking with fright in front of him, the sweet scent of his blood and sweat clouding Zim's corrupted mind. "…can't…fight…"

Dib opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by Miss. Bitters' voice ringing out, "ZIM! SIT DOWN!" She snapped irritability, much to Dib's chagrin. Zim shifted his focus from the child to his teacher, staring her down, not feeling the least bit threatened by her anymore, since his transformation also seemed to have given him an immense boost in his confidence, as well as his ravenous, unending hunger.

Dib grew worried for the safety of his fellow classmates the longer that this continued. He could see that Zim was clearly trying his hardest to keep from snapping and slaughtering everyone in the room. It would be so easy for the alien to just ignore everything that Dib was saying and to sink his teeth into Melvin's throat, and he really wanted to.

Zim's eyes clouded over, and for a second he could no longer hear what Dib was telling him, as the sound of Melvin's beating heart, and the blood flowing through his veins grew louder in his ears, and it was all that he could hear now, and all that he could focus on. As the scents grew even more intoxicating, he opened his mouth wide to reveal his sharp teeth, then closed it, as he began to salivate again, his hunger only becoming stronger as the seconds ticked by.

After a few more seconds, he could no longer fight it, and so he instead gave in to it, as he leaned forward to bite into the soft flesh of his captive, he was suddenly interrupted by the bell ringing, signaling that it was time for lunch. Zim screeched and recoiled at the noise, releasing Melvin, who immediately made a break for the door, as he hurriedly opened it, fleeing from the room in fear.

Dib got up from his seat and collected his things, going to his locker, which was just across the hall, a few steps away from the classroom, to put them away until Skool ended for the day. When he was done, he raced back to the room, praying that Zim hadn't gone anywhere in the few seconds he had been gone. The young paranormal investigator was relieved to find that he had not wandered off, and had remained more or less in the same place that he had left him.

"We have to go to lunch now, Zim." Dib walked over to the Irken and gently grabbed his arm, feeling him swaying under his own weight, his legs barely able to hold him upright. "Do you want to walk with me?"

Zim stared back at him blankly, his eyes looking straight through him. After a moment, he slowly nodded, "…yes…"

"Okay, come on, then." Dib led him out of the room and down the hallway, toward the cafeteria. All signs of the carnage that Zim inflicted a few days ago had been completely erased, the halls and lockers had been cleaned and polished, and it was as though it had never even happened, like it was all just a bad dream. But Dib could still remember everything that had happened. Zim had been out of control, only driven by his insatiable bloodlust. He would do all that he could to ensure that it never happened again.

Zim was doing a lot better at controlling his hunger, and Dib was proud of him for that. He really was trying. He couldn't possibly begin to imagine the amount of sheer willpower that it took for Zim to even think about controlling his instincts, even when his entire body and mind was fighting against him.

However, he also feared that Zim might grow tired of battling against himself, or that he just might succumb to his instincts and desires entirely. If that happened, there would be no saving him, ever. He would be a shell of his former self, and the old Zim would be trapped forever inside the body of a monster.

Dib still did not even know where to start for the cure. He didn't know what he needed, or how long it would take until it would be finished. If Zim was his normal self, then he might have known how to make something like this. His best bet was to start at the Irken's base and go from there, but he had no idea if Zim would even still allow him to do that. He would just have to ask him about it.

As they walked through the cafeteria's double doors, he noticed that Zim was glancing around them, eyeing everyone hungrily. He made an attempt to grab an overweight child as he passed them by, seduced by the promise of fresh food. Seeing this, Dib leaned down to whisper into his concealed antenna, "Control yourself. This will all be over soon."

Zim sat down in one of the chairs and clutched his stomach, doubling over, "...need…to…eat…"

"Do you have anything on you at the moment that you could eat?" Dib asked. Zim reached behind him and put a hand on his PAK, "…here…"

The human sighed and ran his hand through his hair. It would make sense that Zim would store some extra meat inside of his PAK for emergencies, such as right now."Isn't it cold by now? It might not be as good anymore."

"…PAK…k-keeps…it…c-clean…" Zim growled, "…warm…"

Dib tried to think of a solution to his problem, one that didn't include the alien killing anyone. He spotted a bathroom across from them, and got an idea. "Well… how about I take you into that bathroom over there so you can eat? I'll make sure that no one interrupts you or anything, and you can lock the door and everything if you want. Actually, I strongly advise you to lock the door in this kind of situation. We wouldn't want anyone to walk in on you eating a dead person."

Zim looked to where Dib was pointing. "…fine…" he got up from the table and slowly made his way over to the men's bathroom. He opened the door and went in, gesturing Dib over with a wave of his gloved hand. The young human went over to stand by the door, making sure that no one would interrupt the Irken while he was feeding.

When Zim was satisfied that Dib was guarding him somewhat effectively, he closed the door, and a second later Dib heard the sound of the lock being turned, followed by loud, ravenous eating sounds as the green-skinned Irken quickly devoured his supply of human meat. The aspiring paranormal investigator was glad that the sounds of dozens of people talking all at once from within the cafeteria was drowning out the sounds of his alien as he ate.

When Zim was done, he unlocked the door and slowly walked out. Dib peered onto the bathroom and was surprised to see not a drop of blood or pieces of flesh anywhere. Zim had apparently cleaned up after himself this time around, which Dib was obviously grateful for. It kept them both out of trouble, and it would be pretty bad for Zim if anyone ever found out what he was doing to his fellow classmates. Luckily, they were all too stupid to connect the dots and find out the truth. They would rather accept any story that Dib threw their way, no matter how ridiculous it sounded.

Zim went back to his seat and sat down, his appetite temporarily satisfied, and continued to silently observe the people around him as Dib got up to get something to eat for himself. He came back to the table a few minutes later with a tray full of food, like chicken and a few pieces of pizza, sitting down to eat his food while he thought about how he could help Zim further.

After he was done, he placed his tray in a stack with all of the others in the Skool, and grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulder. "Okay, I'm finished. Did you have enough to eat for now?"

"…yes…"

"Alright, then, we're done here." He helped Zim to his feet. "Come on, we should get to Science class. We don't want to be late."


	7. The Change

Zim's behavior had been becoming more sporadic, as it was becoming harder for him to control his impulses. He had started twitching now, and the look in his eyes was now unfocused and wild, as he slowly wandered the halls of the Skool, his feet dragging him along, making loud scraping noises against the tile floor.

The Irken growled as he looked from person to person, some giving him strange looks, which only served to aggravate him more. He would make a noise akin to hissing as he swiped and lunged at them, prompting these humans to back away swiftly, while verbally hurling insults in his direction, ones such as 'freak' or something similar that was intended to hurt him emotionally.

Zim did not acknowledge these particular insults that he received from his fellow classmates, merely ignoring them and continuing on with his own business, oblivious to the thoughts and comments regarding his appearance and behavior from everyone else around him. He heard the sound of many hearts beating all at once, voices and scents filling his mind and body, creating a lustful need for sustenance.

He fought to keep himself from feeding upon the innocent with everything he had, but the more he resisted, the stronger it got. He didn't know how much longer he could keep this up. Eventually, he would not be able to tolerate this pain anymore, and he would fully surrender to what his entire being was practically begging him for: human meat.

The more he thought about it, the stronger the scents became, the louder the hearts beat, everything only got louder and harder to ignore. He REALLY didn't like restraining himself, as he was only harming himself by doing so, but he would keep at it, just so long as he was cured by Dib very soon. When Zim had undergone his accidental change, his PAK had also changed, as well. It now required flesh to keep itself working to its full capacity, and to keep Zim alive. Without energy, the PAK would shut down within a matter of days, and kill its host in the process.

Zim found the flesh and internal innards of humans to be very satisfying for his PAK, and for himself. Blood tasted very sweet, subconsciously reminding him of the candy that he used to consume periodically when he was still a normal Irken. When he had eaten his first human after his change into something that he had not yet been accustomed to, he had found the bones to be very brittle, and much weaker than he had originally believed them to be, as they broke fairly easily when a certain amount of pressure was applied to them.

Even before his transformation, he had been fascinated and amazed that the human body could survive so much physical trauma, yet at the same time be as weak as a dead twig. He did not care much for the bones of his victims, as they were sharp and hurt his throat when he swallowed them, so he usually left those remains untouched, leaving them to rot.

He dimly remembered a time when he had even considered himself an honorary human, since he had been on this Earth for so long now. He had been much smarter than all the rest of them, he knew that much. His intelligence had even been on par with that of Dib's, though he had liked to think that he was more intelligent than him as well.

Now, Zim could feel himself losing his knowledge more and more by the day. He was still fairly smart when it came to technology and experiments, but not nearly as much as he was a week ago. He could barely remember how to do simple things now, such as entering his base. It had taken him almost 30 Earth minutes to figure out how to use his elevator so that he could go down to the lower levels to his storage area, where he kept the remains of his victims so that he could feed on them over time.

The Irken remembered that he had kept some recordings and data logs for his experiments on the day that he became….whatever he was now. He could not remember what had happened to his robot…what was his name? He couldn't recall, all he knew was that it had been hyper and loud, and was greatly annoying him, so he had picked it up and… what had he done? He didn't know. It was all a blur.

He snarled and started to bang his head against the wall in a rage, as he attempted to physically will the memory to come forth, but this attempt was halted when arms wrapped around his torso. "What are you doing? Don't do that!"

Zim shoved the unwelcome intrusion away from himself as he looked around at his surroundings. Dib stood in front of him, a worried expression on his face. "Please don't do that, okay? I don't want you to hurt yourself." The human squatted down to eye-level with the alien. "Are you alright, Zim? You seem to be angrier than usual."

"…No…not…okay…" Zim responded, "...dying…t-trying…to…know…"

"What is it? What are you trying to remember, Zim? What can I do to help you?"

Zim turned around and strode up to Dib, snarling as he pulled at his disguise in irritation. "NOTHING!" he shouted, his voice coming out clear for a second. "…you…c-can't…do…a-anything…"

"Are you sure about that, Zim? So, you're telling me that you kidnapped me just for the fun of it, and for no other purpose?" Dib scoffed. "I don't buy that for a second. You wouldn't have gone through all that trouble to get me unless you wanted something from me."

"…want…to…EAT…you…" The Irken growled, his disguised eyes narrowing as showed his teeth and stared him down. Dib refused to be intimidated by him anymore. "If you really wanted to kill me, you would have done it days ago. I know how you operate, Zim. I know how you think."

Zim screeched loudly, rushing at the human and using his strength to shove him up against the lockers, as he fought to keep from giving in to his desires. He leaned forward and smelled Dib's shirt, his scent so intoxicating and inviting, practically begging him to feed. His PAK began injecting his body with chemicals that increased his hunger, so much that he felt like he had no choice but to consume this human at that very moment.

He gripped Dib's shirt in his claws, his body trembling with desire. The chemicals in his bloodstream made his mind cloud over, as it became more difficult to think now. He forgot Dib's name, or what he was doing here. At that moment, he did not care about getting cured. All Zim knew was that this person was food, and that he was starving to death, and desperately needed to fill his body with some kind of sustenance.

Zim grabbed Dib's arm, yanking it towards himself. Before Dib could even react, the alien's teeth had pierced his flesh, just above his wrist. The Irken moaned in relief as the taste of blood filled his mouth, ignoring the pained cries of his enemy as he bit down harder, deeper. He needed so much more of this, and after so long without a living person to feed on, it tasted better than he could have ever imagined it to be.

Dib was hitting him now, kicking him, but Zim held on, trying to get as much energy as he could out of the human before he was dislodged. Dib knocked off the alien's wig and yanked at his antenna, and Zim immediately released his hold on the human, as he screeched in agony. He gave a guttural growl and lashed out, swiping at his prey with his claws and deploying two of his PAK legs, raising them so they resembled the hood of a cobra as it prepared to strike its prey.

Dib ran down the hall, glancing behind him to see that Zim had reapplied his wig, and was continuing to pursue him, PAK legs still raised and ready. He was walking normally now, his PAK having apparently fixed his injured leg, as well as any other injuries that he had previously been suffering from.

What had Zim said about his PAK before? He remembered a conversation between them, during one of their battles just days before he had become a monster. Zim had boasted that his PAK would heal any and all internal and external injuries that Dib inflicted upon him, and that he was practically invincible.

Dib hadn't believed him then, and he still didn't believe it now. If something bled, then that meant it could be killed, and Zim had bled plenty, since the human had injured him several times in the past few days. He shuddered as he thought of all the things Zim could do to him if and when he was caught: Ripping open his stomach and eating him alive while he screamed, pain that he could only describe as beyond excruciating washing over him in droves. Sharp teeth biting into his throat while he was held down by the weight of Zim's body on his torso, choking on his own blood and gasping for breath, while he felt the life leave him…

Dib snapped out of his daydream as he heard Zim rounding the corner of the hallway, his breathing coming out faster as he grew more and more nervous by the second. He had almost forgotten how terrifying the Irken could be when he was stalking his victims. He seemed to be enjoying the hunt, as Dib could clearly hear Zim cackling to himself insanely.

Dib peeked around the corner cautiously, and gasped as he saw that Zim was just standing there in the middle of the hallway, staring at him with a wide, sadistic smile on his face. "...gonna...get…you…" He hissed gleefully.

The young human looked around frantically, desperate for help. There was no one around, because the whole school was currently gathered in the gym for an assembly. But he knew that no one would help him even if his life depended on it, which in this case, it did. They would probably just watch as he was devoured, laughing and celebrating his untimely demise. His fists clenched in anger at the thought of it, close to being fed up with all of the ridicule and hatred that he had been victimized to.

He swallowed his rage. Now was not the time for that. There were more important things to focus on, like the crazed Irken Invader who was currently trying to have him for lunch. Hearing Zim coming closer, he quickly ducked into one of the lockers and closed the door. The Skool had the lockers redesigned the year before, so they were bigger and wider than they used to be now, so that they would be able to hold more stuff. It was still a tight fit, but it kept him hidden from view.

He held his breath as Zim rounded the corner, stopping just in front of the locker that he was hiding in. The Irken looked around for a few seconds, before snarling in anger and slamming his fists against the locker next to him. He continued to search for him, and Zim knew that he was nearby, and probably closer than he thought.

Dib watched him from inside his locker, praying that Zim wouldn't find him as the alien screeched in frustration. His eyes widened as the alien began stabbing his PAK legs through the walls and lockers, hoping to impale his elusive prey. He moved from one to the next, down the row, plunging his sharp metal appendage into each locker, sometimes multiple times.

His body stiffened as Zim got closer to his hiding place. The Irken's eyes scanned the hallway, focused and alert. The lights began to flicker again, creating an aura of danger, as the flickering lights caused the alien to look even more menacing than he already was. The smell only got stronger the further down he went, and Zim knew that he was close.

Dib stared out through the slits in the locker door as Zim made his way towards him, his PAK leg scraping across the lockers, the sound loud and painful to his ears. "...c-come…out…and…playyyyy…" he growled, his tone sending shivers up Dib's spine. He braced himself. The Irken would find him sooner than he thought, and when that happened he needed to be prepared to fight his way out.

Zim let out a screech that was so close and loud that Dib covered his ears and screamed in pain. Making any sound at all had been a mistake on Dib's part, because the Invader now knew where he was hiding. He slowly walked over to his location, grinning when he saw his prey staring back at him from within the locker. He thrust one of his PAK legs through it, aimed at his throat, and Dib just barely dodged it as he ducked to avoid it.

Zim thrust his PAK leg at Dib again and again, determined to injure the human. He heard a cry of pain, and smiled wider as the smell of fresh blood hit him. He reached over toward the handle to open the locker, and gave a hiss of alarm when the door suddenly burst open, knocking the alien to the ground.

Dib ran down the hall, clutching his bleeding hand to his chest as he fled the area, heading toward the Skool's exit. Zim hurriedly scrambled to his feet, firing a single laser shot at the fleeing human, but missed as the shot struck the wall instead.

The Irken screeched in rage behind him as Dib pushed through the doors of the Skool and ran out into the parking lot. He weaved his way through the maze of cars blocking his path, running down the sidewalk and away from the Skool. His hand throbbed with pain, dripping blood onto the ground as he ran. His breathing came out in shallow gasps as he tried to think of a place to run to, and escape the creature trying to kill him.

He thought about going back to his house, but he suspected that would be the first place that the Irken would look. He sighed and nursed his injured hand, while he thought about where he could go that would be safe enough for him until he could figure out what he should do next. He could call his father or Gaz, but they probably wouldn't want to help him, as they apparently always had better things to do than assist him whenever his life was endangered, which seemed to be happening more and more the older he got.

He stopped to catch his breath, his lungs burning. He glanced behind him, but he saw no sign of Zim. He continued to keep his guard up, though, because if there was one thing he knew about the Irken, it was that Zim could appear unannounced at any time.

Dib continued running, his lungs protesting this action. He continued running until he couldn't take the pain in his chest anymore, and decided instead to rest for a little while on a park bench that was nearby. There were only a few people playing at the park, so Dib hoped that he would be safe here until he got his strength back. The sun was shining, not a cloud in sight. Fall was just beginning, and the trees were starting to lose their leaves, and the wind blew in a soft gust of cool air, as Dib let himself relax for just a moment.

He still kept an eye out for Zim, just in case he decided to show up unexpectedly. The pain in his chest was beginning to lessen, as he slowly caught his breath again. After a few minutes, when his pain had gone away and there was still no sign of the alien anywhere, he stood up and stretched, feeling dizzy for a few seconds as the blood rushed to his brain.

Dib began walking, not seeing the pair of disguised, purple-colored eyes watching him from behind a cluster of large trees nearby. Zim waited until the human was far enough away that he wouldn't be able to notice him, and emerged from his hiding spot, continuing to stalk him quietly, waiting for his chance to attack his prey.

The young paranormal investigator turned onto his street and headed towards his house, wanting to at least see his family for a little while. He walked up to the front door and gripped the door handle, but stopped when he caught sight of Zim's base, dark and decrepit, falling apart from lack of care. The lawn gnomes, the ones that had so successfully guarded the base from intruders in the past, lay scattered around the front lawn in plain sight, smashed to pieces by their owner.

As Dib walked closer to the base, he noticed that the windows were damaged and riddled with cracks, like something had been hitting them with a blunt, heavy object. The house's paint was chipped and peeling, and there were long, deep scratch marks and gouges on the outside of the house.

The human went up to the base's front door and hesitated before trying the doorknob. It was unlocked, and creaked open eerily, and Dib entered. The house area was the same as it was when Zim had kept Dib here as his captive, messy and destroyed, debris scattered everywhere throughout. The pictures that had hung on the walls were now ripped to pieces, their frames shattered. He opened one of the closets and saw some gauze on the floor, picking it up and using it to wrap up his injured hand, wincing at the pain.

Dib left the living room and walked deeper into the house, shocked at the amount of damage that one little Irken was capable of inflicting. He ventured into the bathroom, seeing that the toilet was completely destroyed, but that the lift that took Zim down to the base was still intact. He stepped onto it, pressing the blinking red light on the side of it.

As he descended down into the lower levels of the Irken's base, he marveled at the craftsmanship of it all. It really was all quite impressive, Dib had to admit. He reached the base's entrance, stepping out of the elevator and looking around in awe. This part of Zim's base was relatively untouched, except for a few broken containers and beakers, it was actually pretty clean. The air was cold, and Dib wrapped his arms around his body, trying to keep himself warm. The base's computer was damaged, its screen filled with static as it displayed a flickering image of the Irken symbol, its color changing from red to blue, and back again.

He saw something that looked like a disc sitting on a table near the computer labeled 'Invader's Log.' He picked it up and examined it curiously, wondering what information the disc contained. Would it help him figure out how Zim had become what he is now? He looked closer and discovered a slot next to the computer that upon further examination seemed like it would fit the disc that he was holding, so he slid it into the slot hesitantly.

The screen flickered back to life after a few seconds, and the human felt himself smile as Zim, the real Zim, appeared on the screen. He was healthy and uninjured, and he smiled at the camera, showing his zipper-like teeth. He cleared his throat, and begin speaking:

"Invader's Log: Day 238. I am no closer to conquering the humans than I was on Day 1, even though most of the humans that I have encountered during my time on this filthy, disgusting planet appear to be very unintelligent, except for the Dib-smell, of course. He has stopped the majority of my schemes to dominate this filthy ball of dirt. So, to ensure my success this time, I have spent much of the last few days developing a kind of poison that will be transmitted through biting, or bodily contact with any infected creature. The effects of this virus will take no longer than a few seconds, and the infected individuals will not be able to control their impulse to feed."

Zim opened one of the cages containing a hamster, and poured a drop of his creation onto it. "This substance will kill its host and reanimate their bodies. Once they are fully transformed, they will then attack the first living thing that they see. I have found that the Change is different for every creature, so I am curious to see how this hamster reacts to it."

The alien studied his test subject with a sadistic smile, watching as the hamster immediately froze in place, then bled from the eyes and mouth, before dropping dead. Zim quickly opened the cage back up, this time placing a white lab rat next to the infected hamster, closing the cage door and locking it securely. He giggled in apparent excitement as it twitched and opened its eyes, which were now a dull grey color. The hamster spotted its prey and attacked, tearing into its victim with its teeth and claws.

Zim laughed harder as the rat squealed in agony, finally dying as the hamster continued devouring its corpse. The Irken cleared his throat and straightened himself, trying to look presentable for his leaders. "I know that this new plan has potential, and I know that it will succeed. Unfortunately, I have discovered a side effect to this virus. Due to its sheer potency, the host's body will break down rather quickly, causing rapid decomposition and memory loss, as it works to consume the flesh and, consequently, the rest of the body, before eventually killing its carrier."

Zim held up a small vial for the camera to focus on. "I know that it is a small amount, but don't be fooled by its size, My Tallest. It is actually very effective, and I have tested it with several other animal subjects that I acquired from a pet store, as well as an alley nearby. Although its rate of lethality also varies depending on the victim, it does its job fairly well as you can see. I still need to create a cure to it in case anything goes wrong, but I have complete confidence that it will carry out its intended purpose down to the last detail."

Dib watched, speechless and shocked, as Zim continued with his explanation. "Based on my calculations, it has a 95 percent chance of success, but I have found another slight flaw in which some of my subjects are unaffected by the toxin, and my human subjects also seem to have an immunity to it as well. So, I unfortunately still need to fix that issue, and also make sure that there are no further complications or flaws in my plan before I-"

Zim's robot appeared then, climbing onto the table upon which the test subjects and said toxin were placed. "HUUUUGS!" It yelled, before throwing itself onto Zim. The Irken stumbled backwards in shock. "GIR! GET OFF OF ME!" He screamed, staggering around while attempting to yank the robot off of him unsuccessfully.

The Irken fell onto the table, knocking over the toxin and shattering the vial. Hearing the noise, Zim finally managed to yank his servant off of his face, throwing him across the room violently with a yell, and Dib heard a crash as the robot hit the wall. Zim kneeled before the shattered container. "Gir, what have you done?! Do you realize how long it took me to-" He stopped ranting when he noticed that his hand had been cut when he fell onto the table, and some of it had gotten into his wound, mixing with his blood before his PAK could heal his injury.

Zim began trembling in fright and anger. "NO, NO, NO!" He screamed, picking up one of the pieces that still contained a little bit of the substance. "It can't end like this! I still need to-" The Irken collapsed mid-sentence, his body seizing as a thick pink-colored substance, which Dib assumed to be Zim's blood, dripped from his mouth, before he went still, lying motionless on the ground.

Dib continued watching with wide eyes as Gir approached his Master. "Master, are you okay?" He asked in a slightly worried tone. Dib gasped when Zim stirred lightly, and slowly looked up to stare at his servant. He growled softly, climbing to his feet. He screeched and attacked the robot, lifting him up and shaking him violently, before attempting to bite him. His teeth left holes in Gir's metal body, and Zim let out a snarl of frustration before he grabbed one of his robot's arms and pulled, ripping it off with ease.

The Irken proceeded to rip his servant apart limb by limb, and it screamed as Zim ripped open its chest cavity, tearing out wires and tubes as the robot's eyes went dark and lifeless. Zim threw him aside before continuing to destroy that section of the base, smashing and destroying numerous other objects before breaking the camera, as the screen slowly fizzled out and went black, once again displaying the flickering Irken insignia.

Dib stood there for several minutes after the video had ended, all kinds of thoughts swirling around inside his head. Why had he made this video of himself torturing and experimenting on those defenseless animals? Did he make a cure before that all happened? Could he use this to Dib picked up the disc, placing it inside a paper bag that he had found inside of his jacket earlier.

After making sure that this new and vital information was safely and carefully stored in his pocket, he sighed and stepped over a few cords that lay tangled up on the floor, continuing deeper into the base.


	8. Shelter

Dib wandered the halls of the base, examining the different types of machinery that their Irken owner had left there. Most of it appeared to be damaged or broken entirely, but Dib still found himself just as fascinated as before with the advanced tools that Zim had at his disposal, to be used whenever was necessary.

Tubes and wires of varying length dangled from the ceiling high above his head, and Dib glanced up at them, worrying that Zim's Computer might somehow see him as a threat and attack him. He knew that he had bigger problems than just the Computer, though, so he focused on his mission at hand and tried to be as quick as he could be while still keeping his guard up, in case Zim were to find him.

The Irken in question angrily made his way towards his base, slowly limping along. He had left the Skool a few minutes before, and the sky was already beginning to darken as the sun slowly set for the night. Animalistic rage filled the little alien's body. He was a sly one, that Db.

He growled to himself and turned the corner onto the next street, wanting to return to his base so he could eat. He was feeling a bit hungry after all that time spent trying to catch Dib. He scanned the streets around him, searching for fresh meat to consume in the meantime.

Seeing no potential meals at this time, he continued trudging in the direction of his destination, only growing more angry with each passing moment. Reaching into his PAK, Zim retrieved what was now the last of his food supply, bringing the hand to his mouth and ripping into it while he silently retreated into a darkened alleyway to eat without interruption.

He spat out the bones as he greedily ate what he could for now, finishing it within a few minutes and throwing what he could not eat, like the bones, onto the ground. He stopped to listen for any other prey he could potentially snag for himself while there was time, waiting for a few moments and snarling to himself again when silence greeted him.

His PAK needed energy, and there was no one around to satisfy his cannibalistic desires, and he had just exhausted the last of his food supply. He still had a few blocks to go before he reached his home, and he hoped that he could get back before it grew any more dark than it already was. Zim had recently discovered that since his sight was slowly failing, he had trouble seeing in the dark nowadays.

A small part of Zim, the part of him that still retained parts of his former self, just wanted to go back to how things were before the experiment, before it all went wrong. If he had only kept Gir in another section of the base until his work was finished, then none of this would have came to be. He would have still been fine for the most part, and this uncontrollable hunger would not be forcing him to maim and kill the fellow humans that inhabited this planet.

He heard thunder rolling across the sky as it grew darker still, though it was easy enough to ignore. That is, until the rain began to fall. At first it was merely a slight annoyance as it began to sprinkle lightly, not doing much to the transformed Irken besides causing a slight pain when the rain made contact with his exposed and unprotected skin. He growled and swatted feebly at the air, trying to ward off the assault by what he thought were unseen attackers attempting to take what was rightfully his.

It was not long before it picked up, increasing in speed and density, and soon it was raining steadily, and Zim was screeching in blinding agony, darting under a roof for cover. His PAK immediately began trying to heal his wounds, but did so rather slowly due to lack of sustenance on the alien's part.

Zim saw lights coming from a nearby building, and shambled towards the source. He got there rather quickly, and saw that the door was propped open with a brick. He made his way inside, recoiling at the sudden brightness, shielding his eyes for a moment.

"Can I help you, sir?" A voice said from in front of him. Zim lowered his arm to his side and snarled softly, fixing his gaze on an adult human, pale white skin and brown hair. Fairly young, and he had a name tag pinned to his shirt that read 'Chad.' And he was the only one in this small store.

A sick smile peeled from his decaying mouth, and Zim began to drool at the mental image of that particular human in his clutches, spewing blood all over the place. He started limping toward his new victim, eyes alight with ravenous glee. He began to giggle uncontrollably, happy that he was finally getting what he so desperately craved.

The young human working the counter gave him a look of confusion and worry, noticing the blood that soaked the Irken's clothes, and the way he moved was unlike anything he had ever seen before. "Hey, man, are you okay? Do you want me to call someone?" He asked, thinking that he might be injured. At least, it certainly looked like he was.

Zim giggled again and shook his head almost violently. "…no…" He was nearly at the counter now. "No…" The alien stopped and stared straight ahead at the store clerk blankly, as if he had forgotten what he was doing there.

"Well, okay," Chad responded quizzically, "are you just getting ready for Halloween, then? Because I really like your costume, it's super cool. Never seen anything like it. Where'd you get it from?"

Zim did not respond, continuing to stare blankly into space, not even acknowledging Chad's presence. He was about to say something else when a dog barked loudly nearby, interrupting Chad's sentence and also seemingly bringing Zim back to the present as he focused once more on his task.

The alien snarled louder and moved a little faster, breathing heavily as though it put a lot of strain on his body. When he was close enough to almost reach out and touch the counter in front of him, he halted again, staring at Chad with what the young human thought was murder in his eyes. Something dark and vicious and evil.

Zim's mouth slowly opened, his worm-like tongue lashing about from side to side, drooling heavily. His eyes narrowed further, growling becoming deeper and more threatening, he screeched and lunged, tackling Chad and knocking them both to the ground.

Finally realizing the very real danger he was in, Chad crawled backwards while at the same time pulling out his phone to call emergency services, but Zim knocked the phone out of his hand and gripped his legs to pull him closer towards him, crawling on top of him and pinning his arms to the cold tile floor, opening his mouth even wider while doing so.

The last thing Chad saw were rotting teeth, moving rapidly towards his face, the last thing that he heard was his own screams mixed with his assailant's own shrieking yells, the last thing he felt were those same teeth sinking painfully deep into his throat, and the unimaginable, intense pain that came after.

Then, he never felt anything, ever again.

Blood pooled on the floor as Zim ate ravenously and quickly, feeding upon his dead catch. He happily shoved entrails into his mouth with great pleasure, his hunger being satiated for this brief moment, but it would not be enough for long, and he would need to eat again very soon to keep his PAK from shutting down permanently.

The current weather kept everyone indoors for far of being chilled down to the bone, so Zim was free to roam about for the time being, and anyone who was outdoors at this time of night anyway, well they would only serve to be Zim's next meal.

He continued eating, reveling in the taste of warm, wet meat. He didn't like his food very much when it was cold and rotting, he preferred it to be warm and fresh, straight from the source. It was better that way, and when it began cooling, then he usually left it alone and stored what was left in his base for emergency situations.

By the time he was finished, there was hardly anything left of the human once known as Chad, and it was mostly bone now, taking what little he hadn't eaten and putting it into his PAK for future use.

Deploying a PAK leg, he shot a laser at the body, disintegrating it into a pile of ash. Feeling full and satisfied, the Irken then rose to his feet and limped slowly into the back room of the store to wait out the rain.


	9. Prey

Thunder rolled across the sky with a loud bang, making Dib jump. He looked around himself frantically to make sure that Zim hadn't somehow snuck up on him while he had been exploring his base. Just the mere thought of the alien catching him by surprise sent shivers up Dib's spine. He did NOT want to be at his mercy again. Once had been enough for him, and he knew without question that the memory of Zim nearly killing him multiple times was now etched into his mind forever.

Almost every room he had been in so far had been destroyed or ransacked, or both. Mostly both. There were deep scratches in the walls, exposing delicate machinery and wires from within. The components and foundation, the things that make up the compound and kept it standing.

The rain continued, and Dib hoped that he wouldn't be stuck inside what had now become the final resting place for many others of his kind. He wondered what Zim's plans were after gutting him, if he was even capable of forming complex plans in his current condition, anyway.

Dib stopped at one of the rooms and noticed that the door was ajar and a rancid, powerful stench coming from inside. He held his breath to keep from inhaling the smell and cautiously opened it. He gagged as the stench became overpowering, clutching his stomach and promptly vomiting onto the floor.

Bodies of varying stages of decay were scattered throughout the room, bloody and missing limbs and some even heads. Most of them had chunks taken from their throats, which Dib now discovered that seemed to be Zim's preferred method of killing his victims as quickly as possible so that they couldn't fight back and to ensure that they had no chance of survival.

At least he should be somewhat relieved that if Zim ever DID catch him, he might make his End quick and hopefully painless. Even so, it didn't make the idea of death any less frightening or dreadful. The majority of people never truly want to die, except for a select few minority, like the depressed or suicidal, or the ones who do something unspeakable and feel great remorse after the fact, feeling as though they would deserve it.

Dib quickly came to the conclusion that he had stumbled upon a room he had not been meant to see, a room apparently used to store all of Zim's victims that he had not yet finished consuming.

The young human forced himself to recover from the shock and hurriedly left the room, retreating back into the hall and slamming the door closed behind him to block out the sight and smell of the pile of bodies occupying the space.

He was surprised that Zim had managed to capture as many victims as he did, and store them in his base without being detected or seen by any other witnesses. But then, Dib also surmised, that any of said witnesses had also been eaten by the alien.

He couldn't understand how that Irken could stand the stench and sight of all of those people, and leave them to rot in that room. They must have families looking for them, people wondering why they had suddenly disappeared from their lives.

He stood silent for a minute, mourning the loss of these others whom he hadn't even known very well, and some he hadn't known at all. A few of them had been his former tormentors, he saw a few faces he recognized in that room. He didn't mourn them as long as the strangers. They didn't deserve his remorse.

In the silence, he no longer heard the rain, which Dib immediately became nervous about. No rain meant that his only natural protection against Zim had all but vanished, leaving the Irken free to roam unharmed and hungry. Dib wouldn't have been surprised if he had already started eating again.

That thought spurred Dib back into action, remembering that he had to move even faster now if he was to get out in time before Zim arrived back home. He was probably headed back right then.

Dib quickened his pace.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Zim was hungry again. The rain had finally stopped falling, but their were still puddles on the ground all around him. He learned to avoid them altogether after the first time he had stepped in one, only a few minutes ago, had water soaked through his boots and make contact with his bare skin, leaving his feet burning and sizzling.

He hissed in agony, a low sound, deep and threatening. The pain only made him all the more angry, and that anger fueled his mind and body as he limped along even quicker than before.

He heard laughter nearby, causing him to stop and glance around himself for the source, spotting another human wearing a raincoat and holding an umbrella, talking on his phone. Zim focused on this new threat, the alien making his way towards him silently and slowly.

His victim stood near a bus stop, apparently awaiting transportation to some unknown location that Zim had no interest in learning about. He was hungry, and that was all he knew and cared for. He came closer to his food. That was all this person was to him. Food. A lamb set to be slaughtered by the butcher, no pity or remorse.

He began approaching from the side, but soon changed his tactic and shifted to move behind them so they had no knowledge of his presence until the End. The cold, heavy smell of the rain that lingered in the air masked his scent and smell, making his detection that much more difficult.

The human continued talking on his mobile device, unknowing of Zim's position, closing in faster now as the Irken grew excited at the thought of this one being his next meal for the day.

He was nearly on him now, just a few more paces and he would have it…

His victim turned around just as he was about to pounce, smelling his scent of blood and decay. "What-"

Too late. Zim grabbed his shirt and yanked him hard, pulling him close agianst his chest and holding him there with his increased strength as he bit down hard into its side. His food screamed, trying to instinctively shove him off, but the alien held on, digging his sharp claws into the shirt he was holding.

It would not get away from him. He had finally found food, and it would not escape him as Dib had previously. He bit harder and deeper, his eyes alight with animalistic joy and the desire to feed upon his catch.

The wind picked up, growing louder and rustling the trees, so the victims cries went unanswered and unnoticed.

His catch fell to the ground as Zim tore into his rib cage, the human's eyes losing their life and growing dimmer each moment, his sounds quieting into barely audible gasps as he lay there dying, being ripped apart by a still-transforming, half-dead Irken Invader.

Zim's heart no longer beat, his internal organs now completely dead and rotting, everything that had once helped him survive and kept him alive before his time on Earth, now all shutdown permanently, all had ceased functioning save for his PAK, and that was also on borrowed time as it was.

He was dying, slowly but not painfully. He no longer felt pain. Well, sometimes he did, like when Dib stabbed him when the alien had broken into his house a few days ago, but those moments were few and far between now.

Tired of his victims noises, he hissed and sunk his teeth into its lips, tearing away their mouth, and harshly gripping his chin as he bled profusely, jerking it hard to the side and breaking his neck.

Now with the man forever silent and finally dead, Zim chirped happily and continued eating uninterrupted, getting his fill of blood and guts, lungs and livers, and the like. He quite liked it now when they were still moving, so that their blood spewed forth and supplied him with near endless amounts of liquid fluids and energy, with which to use for his own body.

He decided then that Dib would suffer this same fate, being slowly and agonizingly consumed as he screamed and begged for it to end. It would be slower than this one's death, he would take his time with Dib, creating the child's own personal hell. Zim giggled madly at the thought of it. What a way to go, being cannibalized by an unearthly creature.

He disposed of his food, having his fill for the moment, and proceeded on the trek towards his home. He was less than a block away now, and he could smell the faint smell of….Dib. He snarled as he recognized the all too familiar scent of his prey. He deployed his PAK legs and used them to complete his journey, stopping at his walkway.

Putting away his mechanical legs, he shambled up to the door and smelled the air again, eyes squinting in concentration. Yes, it was much stronger here now, confirming the fact that Dib was definitely inside his home. Now, he was trapped, with no way out this time. Zim would make sure of that.

He stepped inside, and closed the door behind him.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Dib gasped and jerked around to look behind him as he heard the sound of the front door slam shut. He had ridden the elevator back up to the main area now, having finished exploring the lower levels.

He listened quietly, trying to still his rapidly beating heart. His breathing came out in gasps, fearing the worst now. His fears were confirmed when he heard the faint sound of growling, and his heart skipped a beat. Zim had come back. He cursed himself for not leaving sooner, too fascinated with the base to even consider the option.

He quickly hid inside a closet as the noises came nearer, dreading what might happen upon being discovered by the Irken. Heavy footfalls gave away Zim's position, though they were rapidly approaching his hiding spot.

The growls and hisses came closer as Zim stepped into the hallway, tracking the scent and sound of his prey. Dib put a hand over his mouth to quiet his rapid breathing, hyperventilating like crazy now.

He was sure that Zim could practically hear his heartbeats, they were so loud to his ears. He backed up deeper into the closet, hoping that the clothes hanging there would disguise him and help to keep him safe.

Zim was now nearly to the door of the room he was hiding in, his boots thudding heavily against the carpeted floor and only adding to the suspense. Dib's legs felt like jelly, his body shaking so hard with adrenaline and fear that he was surprised that he could even stand at all. He slid down to the floor, covering himself in spare Irken uniforms and Gir's stuffed animals.

He lay completely still as Zim walked into the room, praying that he would not be noticed. The footsteps stopped in the middle of the room as the alien sniffed loudly at the air, searching for the scent. He approached the door tp the closet, grabbing the handle and turning it slowly. Dib's heart jumped into his mouth, his fear meter spiking to a hundred.

This was it, this was the end. Trapped in a closet with a bunch of stuffed animals. At least he would die comfortably. He tensed, preparing himself for the fight that was sure to come. He stood up, ready to tackle the Irken the second that he opened that door. He would rather die on his feet than on his knees begging for mercy. He would go out with a bang, his moment of glory.

The handle stopped turning as Zim let go, and Dib breathed a sigh of relief. He was safe. He lowered his fists and relaxed his body, thinking that the worst was over.

Just as he was about to lie down once again, the door was opened, and Dib was pulled out into the room, the Irken gripping him painfully by the wrist.

And then he was face-to-face with his worst nightmare, Zim standing proudly before him, mere inches apart from each other. He was pulled nearer as his body became paralyzed by absolute terror.

He started to scream as a pair of sharp teeth began digging themselves deep into his shoulder.


	10. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zim finally pushes Dib over the edge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is dedicated to NoWindInOurSails. Her stories are amazing, go read them right this instant! And leave lots of comments and kudos on them because they deserve a lot of love. Anyway, I worked really hard on this chapter, so I hope you like it.

The pain was excruciating. Teeth buried deep into his shoulder, Zim held onto Dib with an iron grip, refusing to let go. He giggled hysterically as the human screamed, the sound only exciting him more. Blood filled his mouth as it had so many times before, but this time was different. This was better.

Zim detached himself from Dib's shoulder and instead went for his face, screeching loudly so as to disorient his prey before the killing blow. He grabbed Dib by his hair and yanked his head back, giving him a clear view and easy opening to go for his throat.

He bent down, just managing to lightly graze the spot with his teeth before he felt a sharp pain in his side. He screeched and released the young investigator, and Dib dropped the screwdriver he had been holding and immediately wrenched the alien off and threw him down to the ground as hard as he could.

Zim stared at him with pure and intense malice and rage in his eyes, quickly regaining his balance and tackling the boy, throwing all of his weight into it. Not having enough time to react due to the speed at which the Irken had recovered, Dib was thrown backward as Zim collided with his midsection, mouth snapping and snarling, ropes of thick saliva dripping from his jaws.

Pinned to the floor now, Dib flinched and yelled out in fright as Zim opened his mouth wide, exposing the deep dark blackness from the inside, a pit of rot and death. His tongue snaked out and licked Dib's face, savoring the taste of it.

"…dead…now…." Zim choked out, his breathing shallow and raspy. He broke into a fit of giggles, green blood leaking out of his stab wound. It was not fatal for him, nothing was anymore, but it was still something that needed to be tended to after this was over.

"Zim, please don't do this!" Dib begged him, seeing no other way to get through to him now, "I can help you get better. Don't you want that? To be normal again?"

"…No…use…" Zim gurgled, drops of human blood falling from his teeth and hitting the hard floor, "…No…cure. Lying…"

"I promise you, I'm not lying, Zim." Dib looked him straight in the eyes, trying not to show his fear. "I mean what I say. I can help you."

Zim halted, eyes wandering down to stare at his long-time rival's throat, wanting desperately to rip it out. It was completely silent now save for the sound of the Irken's raspy breathing as he drew in breath and exhaled, sounding eerily similar to a death rattle, as though he would collapse and die at any moment.

Dib held his own breath, anxiously waiting for his decision. The problem was, even if Zim DID say yes, he still had no idea how to make such a thing as a cure, or at least something to slow the effects of the serum that had Turned him. He really could not guarantee Zim's return to normalcy, and he didn't even know if it would work even if he did manage such a feat.

After a few moments of thinking it over, the former Invader growled deep in his throat, a PAK leg emerging to slam itself against the ground, less than an inch from Dib's face.

"NO!" Zim screamed, a screech mixed in with the word, giving Dib the shivers and making him fear for his life once more. "No! LYING!" He brought the PAK leg up again, raising it above his head, and Dib's eyes grew wide with terror. His fight-or-flight instincts kicking in, he raised his foot and drove it straight into the alien's squeedilyspooch.

Zim recoiled, and Dib rolled out of the way as the PAK leg came down where he was pinned only a second before. He scrambled to his feet while Zim steadied himself, and Dib raised his fists, readying himself for a fight. He was NOT going to die willingly.

The green-skinned alien only smiled at that, and strode toward the young child, his PAK legs disappearing now, Dib ran at him and threw a punch, aiming for his face, but Zim quickly dodged the attempt and countered, grabbing his arm and twisting it behind his back.

Dib screamed as he felt as though his arm were being crushed, Zim was gripping it so tightly. The Irken leaned in to whisper in his ear, "…family…after…you," and began laughing again before he started to bite into his prey's arm, sinking his teeth deep in and pulling back out, repeating the process three times before Dib finally managed to free himself by violently yanking his antennae.

The scream that followed was so loud it made Dib's ears ring, and his hands shot up to cover them, to block out the deafening scream that Zim was making. He thought he saw blood at the base of the antennae as their owner scratched at them violently, wanting the pain to stop. That area seemed to be the only place that really hurt him anymore, the most sensitive part of him.

Dib watched with a morbid curiosity as Zim continued yelling, crashing into walls and tables, growing more enraged by the second. He suddenly lunged toward Dib, deploying his PAK legs again, and the human dodged fearfully, his fear turning to surprise and confusion as the alien scuttled right past him and out the front door, disappearing into the dead of night.

The paranormal investigator was relieved, letting out a breath he didn't know he had even been holding until now. He began to relax and steady his rapidly beating heart, but gasped as he realized where Zim was now headed: the Irken was about to kill his family.

Dib broke out into a sprint, running as fast as his legs would carry him. His house wasn't that far, he hoped he could make it there before Zim did…

A few minutes later, he burst through the front door of his house, hurriedly slamming it shut and locking it, spinning back around to find Gaz watching TV. She turned to glare at him, angered that he had interrupted her show that she had been watching. "Go away, Dib!" She demanded, climbing off of the couch, her hands clenched into fists now. "I'm trying to watch television!"

"Gaz!" Dib panted, his chest aching and his lungs on fire. He was barely able to catch enough breath to speak. "You and Dad gotta get out of here, Zim is coming to kill you!"

Gaz narrowed her eyes suspiciously at her brother. "I know you're only just trying to get me to give up the TV so that you can watch your Mysterious Mysteries. I'm not stupid, Dib!"

Dib let out a groan of frustration as he pulled at his hair. "I never SAID you were stupid, okay? Just please listen to me just this one time! Take Dad and get somewhere safe, away from here! I'm trying to protect you from Zim!"

"Dib," Gaz growled threateningly, taking a step closer to him, "you are REALLY starting to get on my nerves! I have had enough of your games! Now go away before you really make me angry, and I start beating the fudge out of you!"

"Please, we don't have much time!" He begged. "Zim is gonna be here any-"

A loud bang on the front door interrupted his sentence, making him scream and jump. The door shook on its hinges as a second bang came, louder and more forceful than the first one. Audible snarling could be heard on the other side, loud and threatening. Gaz went over to the window and looked out, smirking when she saw who was at the door.

"Looks like he's here," she said, turning to look at Dib with an annoyed expression. "Both of you, go and play your games somewhere else. I don't have the time to sit here and listen to your stupidity." She trudged back to the couch and sat down.

"This isn't a game, Gaz! This is real, and he wants to kill you! Why can't you understand that?!"

Gaz ignored him, turning up the volume on the remote to tune him out.

A scratching sound came from the front porch, and despite his best efforts, Dib glanced over to see Zim there with his disguise on, peering in through the window, sharp claws scraping the glass. They locked eyes, and Zim only tried harder, increasing the force of his blows and banging his fists against the window pane, trying to break it so he could get in.

Dib heard a soft whimper escape his throat, devastated at the thought of losing everything that he had ever loved. He still cared for his family, and even if they didn't return his affection, they were ll that he had left, the only ones that actually paid attention to him anymore. Well, Zim also willingly gave him his full attention as well, but for an entirely different reason. The Irken, who stood only feet from his next supply with only the front door separating them, wanted to eat him. Nobody else wanted to do that.

He looked over at the window again, and gasped. Zim wasn't there anymore, which meant that he was probably looking for another way into the house. Remembering the last time that something like this had happened, only a few days ago, Dib rushed to the basement and locked the door just as Zim appeared, just as the door closed on him. Dib locked it securely, also making sure that all of the house's windows were locked, as well.

Zim howled from outside, smashing his fists against the windows and doors. He stopped, and Dib saw him extend a PAK leg and pont it at the window. The tip began to glow a light and then dark blue, steadily growing brighter. Dib then understood what Zim was trying to do, and quickly dived for cover behind a desk as a laser shot out and melted the window, leaving a smoldering hole where it was only a moment before.

The Irken climbed through, and Dib gasped. "No, no, no, this can't be happening…" he whispered to himself fearfully. Zim coughed and gagged, doubling over as he clutched his stomach. He snarled and straightened himself again, looking around briefly before he began slowly making his way toward the stairs that led to the living room. Dib felt himself beginning to cry. This was all just too much for him to take. He couldn't bare the thought of losing his family after all that they've been through, all the time that he had spent with them.

He began to feel angry then, different emotions welling up within him. No. He would not let Zim do this. He would not just sit down here and cower behind a desk while the Irken attacked and ate his family. They were all that he had left, and he would be (no, he was,) willing to die to keep them from harm.

He took a deep breath and emerged from hiding, racing up the stairs and into the living room, where Zim was now limping slowly toward Gaz, bearing his teeth. Dib shouted a warning and ran at the alien, tackling him with as much force as he could, sending both himself and the Irken tumbling to the floor. He began punching him repeatedly in the face, yelling at Gaz to run.

Once his sister was out of the room and safe for the moment, Dib felt a little better. He glanced over to where Gaz had gone, but that brief distraction was all that Zim needed to gain the upper hand, as he slashed at the human with his claws and scored a hit on his chest, ripping through fabric and skin.

Dib cried out in pain, and Zim forcefully rolled him over so that he was the one who was free. Now trapped once more, Dib squirmed in Zim's hold, refusing to accept that he was now losing the fight.

He would not die here, not now. He had to keep living and protect them from the monster that wanted to feed upon them.

"...over..." Zim growled in his ear, "…done…"

Dib shook his head. It was NOT over, he could still fight. He could still win this. As Zim began to dig his claws into his body, preparing to rip him apart at the seams and feast on his being, the young child flailed about, striking anywhere he could find. Any openings he could reach. Zim was stronger than him, much stronger, but that didn't mean that he had to give up and die.

Dib heard Gaz yelling to their father to hurry, that some maniac had broken into their house and was now trying to hurt them. He heard the thundering footsteps of his father coming inside, asking what the problem was. He saw Zim, still trying to take a bite out of his son, and then he found himself paralyzed as the intruder met his gaze.

Zim climbed off of Dib to focus his attention on Professor Membrane, and he screamed at his dad to run, to get away before it was too late, but was silenced mid-sentence when a PAK leg pierced his side, and he gasped as he felt the cold metal imbed itself into his flesh. A blinding pain consumed his body, and darkness began dotting his vision.

The last thing he was able to comprehend before losing consciousness was Zim lounging at his father and catching him around the middle. He heard screaming and growling, faintly hearing the sound of choking, and smelling the stench of fresh, warm blood. as his vision began to go dark.

He opened his eyes one last time, and Zim now stood above him, mouth dripping with blood and stinking of a fresh kill. He raised his PAK leg, and brought it down toward Dib's midsection as everything faded into black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This doesn’t look good for Dib. Will he survive Zim’s attacks his time? How will he deal with the loss of his family? Stay tuned!


	11. Evasion

Zim smiled, his tongue snaking out between his teeth. This was it. The moment that he had sought after for days now. He finally had Dib where he wanted him, and this time, he was NOT letting him go. He positioned his PAK leg over the human's still-beating heart, ready to plunge it into his body and end him once and for all.

He brought it high above his own body, and was just beginning to drive it down when a loud yell broke his concentration. "NOBODY GETS TO HURT DIB EXCEPT ME!"

He turned away from Dib and saw only a brief flash of purple before his face met fist, and he stumbled backward, momentarily losing his balance and falling back against the ground, snarling angrily. How dare he be interrupted while he was about to feed?! He got back up in no time flat, ready for a fight with whatever or whomever had struck him so forcefully.

Gaz stood before him, rage in her eyes. The front door stood open again, the air blowing in from the outside, cold and refreshing and energizing. So, the sister did not leave after all… "You killed my dad, and now I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" She punched him in the face again, and he giggled and stumbled off-balance again, and Gaz shoved him down to the ground, screaming with fury. Zim giggled hysterically, mentally feeding on the feelings this human girl was expressing. She was suffering, and in Zim's demented mind, suffering was good.

His PAK legs still out and splayed around him, he slowly moved one of them, and Gaz was too distracted with beating him to a literal pulp that she failed to notice until it was too late to stop it. She would kill him, she would make him feel her pain, she would… Gaz made a strangled sound as she was impaled from behind, the leg going into her back and erupting from her chest, glowing a white-hot white as it cauterized the wounds, and adding to her pain.

Zim was giggling harder now, bringing the human girl closer to feel and see her life go out. He gripped her chin with his claws, holding on tight and secure. This was his favorite part. The light began to dim, and Gaz reached out to grab something, anything, but all she found was the Irken's hand as it grabbed her arm and tore into it savagely, ripping to the bone. He chewed and swallowed, and Gaz made a choking sound as he did so.

He returned his attention to her face, watching with an intense curiosity as the light continued to slowly fade away. He licked her face, tasting the tears that were now leaking from her eyes. He felt her suffering now, and it only made him happy. He loved hurting humans.

When she finally died, Zim shoved her off of the appendage emitting from his PAK and immediately began tearing into her fully now, splitting open her stomach and feeding on her organs. It wasn't Dib, but this sister would do for now. Besides, he knew, somewhere deep in that dying mind of his, that the more people he killed who were close to Dib, the more he would suffer, and he wanted nothing more than for his enemy to see everyone he loved and cared for be destroyed slowly and painfully, their bodies writhing in absolute agony as Zim fed on them slowly, without remorse or pity.

He looked back at Dib, now laying unconscious on the living room floor, blood slowly leaking from the wound Zim had inflicted upon him earlier. He approached him slow and cautiously, sniffing the air and listening for the sounds of breathing and a beating heart. After a long pause, the sounds came to him, slow and faint. He was still alive, though only for the moment. He listened to the pulsing in his ears, the slow, rhythmic sound of his heart, working tirelessly to keep its host alive.

He stood over his fallen foe, bending down and putting his teeth against his throat. He was no longer hungry after consuming the flesh of his family, but he still wanted to kill this meddlesome human who had foiled so many of his plans in the past. So he opened his mouth wide, starting to sink his teeth into the flesh of the chid, starting to taste the delicious fluids that kept him alive, when he heard a howling nearby, a barking noise directly in front of him.

He turned, snarling and bearing his blood=drenched teeth at the intrusion. A dog stood just out side the door, barking at him. A voice, presumably the dog's owner, was calling for 'Snuffles' to return to them. Zim growled back at it, inching closer by the second. This inferior animal would not interrupt his feeding time. He kept up his snarling and growling, but the dog did not back down. So he fired a laser through it, and the noises turned into yelping and whining as it collapsed, bleeding from its side.

Because it had angered him, Zim decided that he DID in fact wish to feed once more on this animal, and so he did, scratching and ripping with his claws, deep into its rib cage and toward its heart. He broke bones that seemed to him to be as weak as paper, his strength crushing them to dust. He ripped out the heart and stuffed it in his mouth, chewing greedily and swallowing it mostly whole after only a few bites.

The owner still did not know of the fate that had befell his beloved pet, and when they did, Zim would be waiting to eat them, too. He growled to himself, anger rising up within his own body. Why must there be so many distractions? All he wanted was food. That shouldn't be so hard to get! But hard it was, and with less people no to feed on, it would only become that much more difficult as the humans began to believe that maybe something had gone amiss in this town, that something was not right.

He heard people began to open their doors and turn on their lights, awoken by the commotion and noise that he had apparently caused when attacking Dib and his family. He deployed his mechanical legs again and quickly scuttled way in a frenzy before he was discovered. He sprinted through backyards and over fences, hearing the screams of the other humans as the dead dog was discovered, and the bloodbath had been seen, as well.

"Call 911!" Reached his antennae, the voices now faint and barely audible. The yells and screams persisted as more people stumbled upon the grisly scene, and the Irken found himself wondering in the Dib had died yet. He scurried into a darkened alleyway, and once he was sure he was in fact safe and hidden for the moment, he burst into a fit of uncontrollable giggling, excited and greatly amused by all of the commotion and unrest he had caused that night.

He had no regard for his own safety anymore, and was no longer worried about living or dying now. All he wanted was Dib, and he had nearly had him this time. If the other townspeople hadn't interrupted, then Dib would now be in his clutches, and the alien would be satisfied that he had successfully brought about the doom of his long-time rival. But now that could not be, and he would have to wait a little longer for his plans to reach fruition.

He yelled out in a blind rage and forcefully swung at a trash can, the force of the swing knocking it into the side of a building a few feet away from where he stood. He gave in to his growing fury, letting it take him over now, filling him with a rage so intense that he wanted to kill every person who now inhabited the Earth. But he had to take it slower now, and be more discreet with his food and his victims.

If there was no more supply, and if his food ran out, then he would be as good as dead. He could no longer consume ample quantities of meals anymore, and his supply was already beginning to thin itself out as people began to fear for their own safety as news of his deeds reached the local news stations, which was why he had prepared for this by storing his food down below, in his base. He still had enough left over to last him for the next few weeks if he rationed it out and controlled himself while he ate.

He did not like this solution, but it was the only thing that would keep him around for at least the next few weeks. He would do anything to stay alive, and now that Dib was in safe hands and within the vicinity and presence of other humans, it would now be even more difficult to get to him for long. He would be discovered.

He then devised a solution to the problem: he would follow the vehicle that took Dib, and track his prey that way instead of spending extra time that he did not have relentlessly searching for him without a guide.

He would kill anyone in his way if he had to, and his sole driven purpose was only Dib, and once he had him, then he could die satisfied, at least. If Dib recovered from his injury, the that meant he would be stronger next time they encountered each other, and Zim could not have him strong. He wanted the human to be weak and feeble, unable to defend himself against his attacks.

Zim would kill him quickly if he surrendered himself to his will, and if he acknowledged that the Irken was indeed the superior one this time. He would beat Dib by any means necessary, even if it meant killing himself in the process. Zim had long since accepted his fate, knowing that he was dying, and would soon be gone. Nothing could stop that from happening, but he was also still transforming. He was always growing stronger, when he had been weak just not a few days prior.

The formula had changed in him. He had steadily been becoming weaker by the hour, but now it was the opposite. What had changed? What made it this way? He didn't know the answer to those questions, and he couldn't care less, anyway. All that mattered was that he was faster now, and better than he was before. An improvement to be sure.

The moon was bright in the sky, the stars twinkling merrily and brightly far above, caring not for the problems of Earth. Zim stared up at them, pondering. At least the Dib-sister was no longer a problem, right? That was one of the good things about this, he could dispose of anybody he wanted to, be them a problem or not. But the Professor could have helped to cure him, certainly, and he had foolishly rid himself of the one chance he had left to be himself again.

He regretted killing the Professor, but he knew that there were others who could help him if and when he needed it. Other humans whom he could force to help him with reverting back to his former self. The smart ones knew how to survive, but they also knew when they were beaten, and when to either give up, or keep fighting. Most chose survival over the release that death would have provided.

He smelled food now. He needed it. He trudged toward the scent, following the sounds and sights. His one good eye swept over his location, searching. He saw a small rat, scurrying along the road. He snatched it up with a growl and bit its head off, chewing with great intensity. The bones and skull of the rodent crunched and snapped in his mouth, stabbing into his skin and piercing his tongue. He could not feel it, though, so he paid it no mind.

Zim ate the rest of his catch and licked the blood from his hands, and continued limping along the road, the darkness of the night protecting him from human eyes. He had to get to Dib, no matter how long it took, he would get to him and kill him. He would go wherever Dib went, until he caught him.

But he also knew something else, too. He knew where Dib was going, where the ambulance was taking him, and if he had to kill everyone in that hospital to achieve his goals, then that was just fine with him.

After all, there was nothing more beautiful to him than the sound of humans screaming.


End file.
